



' ■ '■■ '■'.- ' 



: 




■•'-■" 



o« 






tf 1 












.*' 




















O # ft * -0 












*«V.T*\<S 







v ***** <^ 4? fc •ii*:*. ^ „ 



O * " " ^ . . Vv ° " 






•*s$5$W> ° ^ ** 






35 



40 




■5o 



^ 




c 



~>. 





Sea 






Sj -^ Melmum 












lemer 




Tfc- 





C^ TiOba 





P 5 * 



^L *<? 



\Aioonea': fiemaa 



irtj-- 



/ fiass 



"tes 



^o 



■S/iaken A 




JPlir""" 



\a 



-tl 



or 
~~ " 'Drawn- for Uic 

Modern Traveller. 

feud/tew r f,ilfr'j$.''Sicjtor< 

English Miles 

-mnu.'wuifflif 

25o Zoo 




WcO> 



■f"^, o Gioraf. 



~lsc?, 



h 



Sammar^ 



g&! 



3 






T-M&- 




fcsA&i 



Kalbe% s c0t: 



lernert 



vk 



^jp- 



fr 



xb 



J> 



4%# 







Mazeira 



■^f 



. ~H ■it*' 



Tiirtu. 



GfJlazeira 

oi' Bass as 

IsoUtfc 



\jtfasraca~ 






22- 



V 




* 



f 7w 












I 






ARABIA. 






3$B 



COMPRISING ITS 



GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND TOPOGRAPHY, 



WITH A MAP AND ENGRAVINGS. 



'Ba.; U C^wtfj^ 



,->• 
**»<' 




1 rtS 'y r> v^, 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY THOMAS WARDLE 

1833. 



• 



I 







e>* 



** H 






CONTENTS. 



Page 

Boundaries of Arabia, 1 

Etymology of the name, ib 

Ancient and modern divisions, 3 

Provincial distribution, 4 

Physical geography, 7 

Natural history, 14 

History of Arabia, 20 

Peninsula of Mount Sinai, 105 

Convent of Mount Sinai, 129 

From the convent to the gulf of Akaba, 196 

Voyage$down the Red Sea, 207 

Djidda, 212 

Mekka, 220 

Description of the temple, 222 

Description of the city, 239 

Character and costume of the population, 249 

Pilgrimage to Mount Arafat, • 256 

Description of a Hadji caravan, 267 

Medinah, 270 

Boundaries of the Holy Land, 271 

Voyage from Djidda to Loheia, 278 

Route from Loheia to Beit El Fakih, 280 

From Beit El Fakih to Djobla, 285 







IV CONTENTS. 

Page 

From Beit El Fakih to Mocha, 288 

Aden, > 289 

Mocha, 292 

From Mocha to Sanaa, 311 

Sanaa, 319 

Coast of Omaun, 327 

Petra, 329 



DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES. 



Map of Arabia, to face the Title. 

View of Mount Sinai, 129 

Mosques at Mekka and Medinah, 224 

View of Moosa, 310 




■ ' :Vr$\ ■-, ■\ i ..- : _„■ ■■-■■■■' 




MOUNT SINAI & C ONVENT. 



W'f/irT/.e-tGrrs- jr.-ir/i&o.YjBiKrfott. . 



n 



H 
35 



> % 
2 

v. 




!M 







A 

POPULAR DESCRIPTION 

GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL, 

OF 



[ A peninsula forming the south-western extremity of Asia, 
lying between lat. 12° and 35° N., long. 36° and 61° E.£ 
bounded on the N. by Syria and the Euphrates-; on the E» 
by the Persian Gulf ; on the S. by the Arabian Sea, or In- 
dian Ocean; on the W. by the Red Sea.] 

Arabia is one of those countries which belong to 
sacred geography. It is the land of Ishmael, — the 
country of the Edornites, the Amalekites, and the 
Midianites, — the scene of those wonderful transac- 
tions which immediately followed the exodus of Israel. 
Mount Sinai and Mount Nebo rank among its moun- 
tains, and the Red Sea, the Jordan, and the 
Euphrates form its western and northern boundaries,, 
Combined with these sacred associations, others of 
a romantic kind attach to the name of this almost 
unknown country. For if, as the native land of the 
Arabian Impostor, it has no claims on the veneration 
of the Christian, to his successors in the khalifate, 
literature and science were greatly indebted; and the 
link between ancient literature and the revival of 
letters was supplied by Arabian learning. 

vol. i. 1 



2 ARABIA. 

The word Arabia is of doubtful etymology. The 
most probable conjecture is that which derives it from 
the Hebrew orebeh, a wilderness or desert,* in which 
case Mount Horeb might seem to have given its name 
to the country; or it may be understood as simply 
denoting the desert mountain. The Arabians, then, 
are the inhabitants of the desert, the pastoral hordes 
of the wilderness. This etymology may be thought 
to receive some support from the coincident import of 
the word Saracen, under which name the Arabian 
tribes from Mecca to the Euphrates were confounded 
by the Greeks and Romans.| One of the many words 
in Arabic signifying a desert, is zahra,% from which 
the appellative Saracen (« Zagaxuw** Qvm) has pro- 
bably been formed.^ The Turks and the Persians 

* Schleusner gives the preference to this etymology. Bo- 
chart supposes it to be derived from areb, the west, i. e. of 
the Euphrates, and that the country received that name from 
the Assyrians. But this is unlikely, as Arabia would rather 
have been described as the south, which is actually the import 
of the modern appellative yemen. Pococke adopts the notion 
of its being so named from Yarab, the son of the patriarch 
Joktan, the supposed founder of the kingdom of Yemen. 

t See authorities in Gibbon, vol. vii, c. 50. 

t Kafr, mikfar, stnlis, mahk, and habaucer, are all 
used to imply a naked desert covered with sand; tanufah 
denotes a steppe or plain covered with herbage; zahra is 
either a naked desert or a savanna. — See Humboldt's 
Pers. JVarr. vol. iv, p. 315. 

§ Others have derived it, Gibbon says, < ridiculously, from 
Sarah, the wife of Abraham; obscurely, from the village of 
Saraka ; more plausibly, from Arabic words signifying a 
thievish character and an Oriental situation. The last and 
most popular of these etymologies,' (the one adopted by Sale, 
from shark, the east,) < is refuted by Ptolemy, who ex- 
pressly remarks their western and southern position.' Mr 
Charles Mills, in his History of Muhammedism, says: * Of 
the various definitions of the word Saracen, I prefer the Ara- 
bic word Saraini, whieh means a pastoral people. Tne cor- 
ruption from Saraini to Sar acini can be easily imagined. 1 



ARABIA. 3 

call the whole country Jlrabisldn, the country of the 
Arabs; a name recognised by the natives themselves,, 
who are divided into two grand classes, M Jiarub ahl 
el hudar, or ahl al madar (clay), i. e. the dwellers in 
towns, and M Jiarub ahl al Bedoiv, or Bedoweeoon, or 
ahl al wibar, i. e. dwellers in tents. By the oriental 
geographers, the northern part of Arabia Petraea is 
included in the Bar-el- Sham (the country on the left), 
or Syria; while the tract of land comprehended by the 
Greeks under the name of Arabia Felix, is called 
Bar-el- Yemen, the country on the right or south. 
This has by some writers been denominated Arabia 
Proper. Roman Arabia, or Arabia Provincia, the 
kingdom of Aretas, which had for its capital Bostra, 
and included at one time Damascus, comprised that 
tract of country now called the Ledja and the 
Haouran, the ancient Batanea and Auranitis:* it is 
now included in the pashalic of Damascus. 

Ptolemy was the first geographer who divided the 
peninsula into the well-known regions of Arabia 
Deserta, Arabia Petrsea, and Arabia Felix. Desert 
Arabia extended on the north and east as far as the 
Euphrates, which separated it from Mesopotamia, 
or Arabian Irak: its chief city was Palmyra. 
Arabia Petrasa was so named from Petra its capital: 
it comprehended the tract of country south of the 
Dead Sea, between Palestine and Egypt, at the 
northern extremity of the Red Sea. Arabia Felix 
designated the remainder. This division, however, 
is vague and arbitrary, and will be of little use in laying 
down the modern geography of the country. The 
first of these Arabias was the country of the ancient 
Nabatheans and the people of Kedar, answering to 

(p. 2S.) Is it not probable, that Saraini, or Zaraini, is 
itself fanned from zahra, s£»u'o? — a pastoral wilderness,? 
* See Mod. Trav.., Syria, vol. ii, p. 85, 



4 ARABIA. 

the modern Bedoweens;* the second was peopled by 
the Amalekites, the Cushites, the Moabites, and the 
Ammonites; the third is supposed to be the Sheba of 
Scripture.f The kings of Arabia are mentioned as 
having brought gold and silver to King Solomon, and 
the Arabians paid an annual tribute of 7,700 sheep 
and as many goats to Jehoshaphat.J The latter was 
evidently the tribute of a pastoral nation, — probably 
of the Bedoweens inhabiting the country east of the 
Jordan and bordering on the kingdom of Judah. The 
precious metals must have been supplied by a com- 
mercial people ; and accordingly, we find these kings 
of Arabia mentioned together with the merchantmen 
(or collectors) and the spice-merchants, as furnishing 
the gold, which appears to have been obtained partly 
in the shape of duties on traffic, partly as a contribu- 
tion from the provincial governors and tributary 
chieftains. This Arabia, therefore, doubtless bor- 
dered on the Red Sea. 

Arabia Proper is distributed by the oriental writers 
into five provinces, as, in the time of Strabo, it was 
divided into five kingdoms: these provinces are, 
Yemen, Hedjaz, Tehama, Nedjed, and Yamama, to 
which some add Bahhrein as a sixth. § Niebuhr 
divides Arabia into, 1. the country of Yemen; 2. the 
country of Hadramaut; 3. the country of Oman; 
4. the independent states on the borders of the Per- 
sian Gulf; 5. the country of Lachsa, or Hadjar; 
6. the province of Nedjed; 7. the province of Hed- 
jaz; and, 8. the desert of Mount Sinai. In this 
division, Tehama, the flat country extending along 

* It is clear from Isaiah xiii, 20, and Ezek. xxvii, 21, that 
the Arabians of Scripture were dwellers in tents, and that they 
extended to the borders of Babylon. 

t Ezek. xxvii, 23. 

j 1 Kings, x, 15. 2 Chron. ix, 14; xvii, 11. 

§ Sale's Koran, prel. disc. § 1 . 



ARABIA. 5 

the coast between Mecca and Aden, which is reckon- 
ed by the ancient geographers as a separate province, 
is included in the Jlrd el Yemen; while Hadramaut 
and Oman, which they include in Yemen, are made 
distinct provinces. The fact is, that the Arabian 
peninsula, being parcelled out into various inde- 
pendent territories, has at no time formed, strictly 
speaking, one kingdom, and, therefore, has never been 
divided into distinct provinces. Certain grand natu- 
ral divisions may be laid down; but these convey no 
correct notion of the political or territorial arrange- 
ment.* The following may be considered as an 
approximation to a correct geographical division of the 
country : — 

J. MARITIME DISTRICTS. 
On the coast of the Red Sea. 

1 Hedjaz: the holy land of the Moslems, nominally subject 
to the Porte, under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of Djidda. 

2. Teh ma: subject for the most part to the Imaum of Sanaa; 
chief places, Mocha and Aden.t 

* Malte Brim professedly follows Niebuhr in dividing Ara- 
bia into Nedjed, Hedjaz, Yemen, Hadramaut, Oman, and 
Lachsa; but, according to the learned Traveller, a considera- 
ble tract of country is not included in those provinces. 

t The Tehama of Yemen (the Yemen of our maps) is 
described as extending along the western coast almost from 
Mecca to Aden. (Sale, vol. i, p. 6.) It is also called Gaur* 
from its low situation. Niebuhr includes it in the JLrd el Ye- 
men, we think improperly: he might as well have included 
Hadramaut, which, together with Yemen and Tehama, compos- 
ed the ancient Arabia Felix. Of the fourteen subdivisions of Ye- 
men which he enumerates, we have omitted three as com- 
prised in Tehama; viz, the sheikhdom of Aden, the territory 
of Abu Arisch, and the district between Abu Arisen and Hed- 
jaz, inhabited by Bedoween robbers. 

VOL. J, I* 



6 ARABIA. 

On the coast of the Arabian Sea. 

3. Hadramaut: governed by independent sheikhs.* 

4. Omaun: divided among several petty sovereigns, of whom 

the chief is the Imaum of Mascat. 

On the coast of the Persian Gulf. 

5. Lachsa, (El Ah'sa,) or Hadjar, including Bahhreinrt for- 

merly subject to the Porte; now governed by the reign- 
ing sheikh of the Beni Khaled, whose capital is Lachsa. 

II. INLAND DISTRICTS. 

6- El Arud, or Nedjed-el-arud, comprising Aijana, the birth- 
place of Abd-el- Wahheb. 
7. El Kherdje, or Yemaumah (Yemama, Imama)t. 
8*. El Nedjed, comprehending the greater part of Arabia De- 

serta. 
9. Yemen Proper, including, 

(1.) The dominions of the Imaum of Sanaa. 
(2.) The canton of Sahaun, governed by independent 
sheikhs; the chief is the Imaum of Saade*§ 

* In this province are included the mountainous country 
called Seger (Sheh'r) celebrated for its producing frankin- 
cense; Mahrah, a large hilly district; and part of Jafa. 

t The name Bahhrein (two seas) has been erroneously 
transferred to the Isle of Aual and the other smaller islands in 
the Persian Gulf off the coast of Hadjar. The Arabian writers 
evidently employ the term to denote a district of the conti- 
nent bordering on yemaumah. Niebuhr says, it denotes the 
part bordering on the Gulf. — See Niebuhr, p. 293; Price's 
Essay towards the Hist, of Arabia, p. 110; Sale's Koran, p. 2. 

% The province of Yemama is stated by Golius (apud Sale) 
to be called also Arud, from its oblique situation in respect of 
Yemen; but this must be an error, as the city of Yemama is 
in El Kherdje, which Niebuhr erroneously places in the S.W. 
part of the Nedjed. Yemama is celebrated as the residence of 
the prophet Moseilama, the rival of Mahommed. It forms, 
with the cities of Lachsa and Djebrin, an equilateral triangle, 
of which each side is a three days' journey. 

§ Three days E.N.E. of Saade is the city and sheikhdom of 
Nedjeran, and, three days further north, on the road to Mek- 



ARABIA. J7 

(3.) The country of Djof, including the ancient Mareb, or 
Mariaba, the capital of the Sabeans: it is divided among 
the Bedoweens, the Shereefs, and various petty Arab 
sultans.* 

(4.) The principality of the Sultan (or Seid) of Kaukeban. 

(5.) Bellad el Kobail, or the country of Haschid u Bekil, 
governed by various independent sheikhs. 

(6.) The small territory of Nehhm. 

(7.) The small territory of Khaujan (Havilah). 

(8.) Ard el Jafa, or Yafa: formerly subject to the Imaum 
of Sanaa; now shared by three petty princes. t 

The whole peninsula, Niebuhr says, may be consi- 
dered as an immense pile of mountains, encircled with 
a belt of flat, arid, sandy ground. This belt, to the 

ka, the sheikhdom of Kachtan; both of them enumerated by 
Niebuhr as separate districts of the Ard el Yemen ; but they 
seem properly to belong to Sahaun. Nedjeran was formerly 
subject to the Imaum of Saade. 

* The country of Djof (or Djof-er-Szyrrhan) is divided into 
Belladel Bedoui, Bellad es Saladin, and Bellad es Scheraf. 
The second of these denominations designates the territory of 
the petty Arab sultans, or independent chieftains of the moun- 
tains. The Bellad es Scheraf denotes the towns and villages 
governed by the descendants of Mahommed. 

t Niebuhr makes fourteen territorial subdivisions; viz, the 
eight above enumerated, three comprised in the Tehama, two 
whieh we have included in Sahaun, and a small district called 
Khaulan, between Sanaa and Mekka, which does not appear to 
have any claim to be considered as a distinct subdivision. In fact, 
there is no end to subdivisions, if the territories of every village 
sheikh who stands up for independence, are to be reckoned as 
a separate province. Southey has happily seized the leading 
features of the country in the following lines: 

' Now go thy way, Abdaldar! 
Servant of Eblis, 
Over Arabia 
Seek the Destroyer! 
Over the sands of the scorching Tehama, 
Over the waterless mountains of Nay d; 
In Arud pursue him, and Yemen the happy, 
And Hejaz, the country beloved by believers.' 

Thalaba, book ii, stanza 27. 



8 ARABIA. 

whole of which he gives the name of the Tehama, 
begins at Suez, and extends round the whole penin- 
sula to the mouth of the Euphrates, being formed, 
towards the north, by the Syrian desert and Arabia 
Petraea. Its breadth varies: that of the plain adja- 
cent to the Red Sea, is generally about two days' 
journey from the sea-shore to the rise of the hills. It 
bears every mark of having been anciently a part of 
the bed of the sea. The bottom is a grayish clay with 
a large proportion of sand, interspersed with marine 
exuviae to a great distance from the sea-shore. It 
contains large strata of salt, which in some places 
even rise up into hills. Its regular inclination to- 
wards the sea indicates that, it has emerged gradually. 
The small eminences upon the confines of this plain, 
are composed of calcareous stone of a blackish appear- 
ance, as if burnt by the sun. The adjoining hills 
contain schistus and basalt. The sea on this coast 
continues to recede, and the Tehama is on that side 
gradually extending its limits. The banks of coral 
are also increasing and coming nearer the shore, so as 
to render the navigation of the gulf more and more 
dangerous.* The sand gradually fills up the inter- 
mediate space, and joins these beds of coral to the 
continent; but these newly formed lands are un- 
grateful and barren, and, unlike the new ground 
formed by rivers, promise no advantage.; being unsus- 
ceptible of cultivation. 

The principal chain of mountains runs nearly 
parallel with the lied Sea, at a distance of from thirty 
to eighty miles. It increases in elevation as it ex- 
tends southward, and sends out a branch in a line 

* These immense banks of coral, which almost fill up the 
Arabian Gulf, rise in some places ten fathoms above the sea. 
They are soft under the waters, and, being easily wrought, are 
preferred to all other stones for building materials. Great part 
of the houses in the Tehama, Niebuhr says, are built of coral 
rock, 



ARABIA. 9 

parallel to the shore of the Arabian Sea, as far as 
Omaun, terminating in the point called Ras al Had. 
From this point to the Ras Miissendom, the coast of 
Omaun is mountainous, and the Tehama disappears, 
except for about a day's journey between the village 
of Sib and the town of Sohar. The Persian Gulf 
is described as a prolongation of the banks of the 
Euphrates. In several parts, particularly near the 
islands of Bahhrein, fresh water springs rise in the 
middle of the salt water.* At the mouths of the 
Euphrates, the alluvial depositions were very percep- 
tible so far back as the time of Pliny : the direction of 
its basin, forming the great plain of Chaldea and 
Mesopotamia, is the same as that of the gulf in which 
it terminates. 

The interior of Arabia is believed to be an elevated 
table-land, declining towards the Persian Gulf. A 
large proportion of it is occupied by a series of 
deserts: but these deserts are separated by small 
mountainous oases, which seem to form a continued 
line from the S.E. of Palestine to Omaun. That part 
of the interior plateau which is particularly known by 
the name of JNTedjed,'f" is a mountainous district, 
covered, Niebuhr states, with towns and villages; 
and almost every town has its independent sheikh. 
It abounds in all sorts of fruits, particularly dates; 
but there are few rivers: that of Astan, laid down in 
D'Anville's map, is only a wadi, or mountain- 
torrent, which is the character of all the Arabian 
rivers, few of which reach the sea.J A Turkish 
geographer, however, states, that the Nedjed contains 
some lakes, and Strabo mentions lakes that are 

* The same phenomenon is seen in the Bay of Xagua and at 
the mouth of the Rio de los Lagartos off Yucatan. — See 
Mod. Trav., Mexico, vol. ii, p. 150. 

t Nedjed, or Najd, signifies, according to Sale, < a rising 
country,' i. e. highlands. 

t The Red Sea receives no river: some small ones find their 
way to the Persian Gulf. 



10 ARABIA. 

formed by rivers.* This is the country of the Waha- 
bites. Nedjed el Arud appears to be a ridge of lime- 
stone rocks, extending from north to south, of abrupt 
form on the west, but gently declining towards the 
east. It is the Monies Mqrithi of Ptolemy. To the 
south and south-east, Nedjed is said to be separated 
from Yemen and Omaun by the desert of Alikaf, 
i which, according to tradition, was once a terrestrial 
paradise, inhabited by an impious race of giants, 
called Aadites, who were destroyed by a deluge of 
sand. ? | 

The position of these mountains in the middle of a 
peninsula, occasions a phenomenon similar to what 
is observable in the Indian peninsula, which is 
in the same manner intersected by mountains. The 
rainy seasons are here singularly diversified. West- 
ward, in Yemen, from the month of June to the 
middle or end of September, the mountains are 
watered by regular showers; but even then, the sky 
is seldom overcast for twenty-four hours together. 
As, during these months, the heat is the greatest, 
these rains are invaluable. During the remainder of 
the year, scarcely a cloud is to be seen. In the 
eastern part of the mountains, towards Mascat, the 
rains fall between the middle of November and the 
middle of February; while in Hadramaut and Omaun, 
the rainy season commences in the middle - of Fe- 
bruary, and lasts till the middle of April. Thus it 
should seem, that the rains make the tour of the pe- 
ninsula every season, as impelled by the prevalent 
winds. In the Tehama, a whole year sometimes passes 
without rain, and the drought is so extreme, that 
the mountain torrents are lost in the sands before 
they can reach the sea. These streams, however, 
when swelled by the rains which fall in the moun- 
tains, afford the means of fertilising the lands by irri- 

* Malte Brun, vol. ii, p. 193. t Ibid, p. 20 6 



ARABIA. 11 

gation, which otherwise would be wholly barren. It 
is obvious, that, by being thus drained off from their 
channels, and diffused over a wide surface in a tropi- 
cal climate, rivers, which might otherwise be con- 
siderable, would lose themselves by evaporation. 
Niebuhr was informed, however, that there is a spring 
rain which falls for a short season in the Tehama, the 
period of which is uncertain, but on which the success 
of the harvest greatly depends. These regular rains 
render the valleys lying among the mountains both 
fertile and delightful.* 

In the Tehama, the heat, during the summer 
season, is intense: at Mocha, the thermometer rises, 
in July and August, to 98° of Fahrenheit, while at 
Sanaa, in the mountains, it only reaches 85°. In the 
latter district, it sometimes freezes, though rarely; 
and falls of snow take place in the interior, but the 
snow never lies long on the ground. The nature of 
the winds differs according to the tract which they 
have passed over, so that the same wind, in different 
places, is dry and moist. On the shores of the Persian 
Gulf, the south-east wind, which comes charged with 
moisture, is said to occasion violent perspiration, and 
on that account is deemed more disagreeable than 
the north-west, which is more torrid, and heats metals 
in the shade. Water placed in jars exposed to the 
current of this hot wind, is rendered very cool by the 
effect of the sudden evaporation; but both men and 
animals are often suffocated by the blasts.. The much 
dreaded Semoum or Samiel y however, seldom blows 

* The rainy season in Yemen, which lasts dining the 
months Tamuz, Ab, and Ailul (June — Sep.), is called Mattar 
el Kharif. The spring rain, which falls in the month Nisan 
(March — April), is called the Mattar es Serf, and answers 
to the Malkosh (the spring or latter rain) of the Hebrews, 
for which it was customary to pray in the month Nisan, as, 
preparing the grain for the harvest. — See Deut, xi, 14. Zech.' 
x, 1. 



12 ARABIA. 

within Arabia, though frequently on its frontiers. 
It is in the desert bounded by Bassora, Bagdadt, 
Aleppo, and Mekka, that it is most dreaded. It 
blows only during the intense summer heats. The 
Arabs of the desert, being accustomed to an atmo- 
sphere of great purity, are said to perceive its ap- 
proach by its sulphurous odour, and by an unusual 
redness in the quarter of the atmosphere whence it 
proceeds. The only means of escaping from one of 
these poisonous blasts, is to lie flat on the ground, 
till it has passed over, as they always move at a cer- 
tain height in the atmosphere: instinct teaches even 
animals to bow down their heads to the ground. The 
effects of the semoom on any who are rash enough to 
face it, are, instant suffocation, and the immediate 
putrefaction of the corpse, which is observed to be 
greatly swollen. 

< The Arabs of the desert, 3 says Volney, ( call 
these winds Semoum, or poison, and the Turks Sham- 
yela, or wind of Syria, from which is formed the 
Samiel. Their heat is sometimes so excessive, that 
it is difficult to form any idea of its violence without 
having experienced it; but it may be compared to 
the heat of a large oven at the moment of drawing 
out the bread. When these winds begin to blow, the 
atmosphere assumes an alarming aspect. The sky, 
at other times so clear in this climate, becomes dark 
and heavy; the sun loses his splendour, and appears 
of a violet colour. The air is not cloudy, but gray 
and thick, and is in fact filled with an extremely sub- 
tile dust, which penetrates every where. This wind, 
always light and rapid, is not at first remarkably hot, 
but it increases in heat in proportion as it continues. 
All animated bodies soon discover it, by the change 
it produces in them. The lungs, which a too rarefied 
air no longer expands, are contracted, and become 
painful. Respiration is short and difficult, the skin 
parched and dry, and the body consumed by an in- 



ARABIA. 13 

ternal heat. In vain is recourse had to large draughts 
of water; nothing can restore perspiration. In vain 
is coolness sought for; all bodies in which it is usual 
to find it, deceive the hand that touches them. 
Marble, iron, water, notwithstanding the sun no 
longer appears, are hot. The streets are deserted, 
and the dead .silence of night reigns every where. 
The inhabitants of houses and villages shut them- 
selves up in their houses, and those of the desert in 
their tents, or in pits they dig in the earth, where 
they wait the termination of this destructive heat. 
It usually lasts three days; but, if it exceeds that 
time, it becomes insupportable. Wo to the traveller 
whom this wind surprises remote from shelter! he 
must suffer all its dreadful consequences, which some- 
times are mortal. The danger is most imminent 
when it blows in squalls, for then the rapidity of the 
wind increases the heat to such a degree as to cause 
sudden death. This death is a real suffocation ; the 
lungs, being empty, are convulsed, the circulation 
disordered, and the whole mass of blood driven by 
the heart towards the head and breast; whence that 
haemorrhage at the nose and mouth which happens 
after death. This wind is especially fatal to persons 
of a plethoric habit, and those in whom fatigue has 
destroyed the tone of the muscles and the vessels. 
The corpse remains a long time warm, swells, turns 
blue, and is easily separated; all which are signs of 
that putrid fermentation which takes place in animal 
bodies when the humours become stagnant. These 
accidents are to be avoided by stopping the nose and 
mouth with handkerchiefs. An efficacious method 
likewise is that practised by the camels, who bury 
their noses in the sand, and keep them there till the 
squall is over. 

1 Another quality of this wind is its extreme 
aridity; which is such, that water sprinkled on the 
floor, evaporates in a few minutes. By this extreme 
vol. i. 2 



14 ARABIA. 

dryness, it withers and strips all the plants; and by 
exhaling too suddenly the emanations from animal 
bodies, crisps the skin, closes the pores, and causes 
that feverish heat which is the invariable effect of 
suppressed perspiration.' 

In the most arid tracts near the sea, the dews are 
singularly copious, notwithstanding which, the natives 
sleep in the open air; and Niebuhr says, he never 
slept more soundly than where he found his bed all 
wet with dew in the morning. In some places, how- 
ever, this practice is dangerous. 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

c There are some groves or thickets on the 
mountains of Arabia,' says M. Malte Bran, ' but 
no forests, properly so called, are to be found.' It 
may be doubted whether our knowledge of the 
country is sufficiently complete to justify this state- 
ment. JNTiebuhr speaks of forests in the south of 
Arabia, which abound with thousands of monkeys 
without tails. The country is rich, he says, in indi- 
genous trees; and forests are to be seen in the high 
lands, though they are rare. Among other trees, the 
following are either indigenous, or have been intro- 
duced, jViebuhr supposes, from India: the Indian 
fio--tree (Jicus varta), the date-tree, the cocoa-palm, 
and the fan-leaved palm, with other native varieties 
of both the palm and the fig-tree; the corneil-tree ; 
the plantain or banana (inusa) ; the almond-tree; the 
apricot-tree; the pear-tree; the apple-tree; the 
quince-tree; the orange-tree; the acacia vera, from 
which the gum arabic is obtained; the mangoustan 
(mangifera) ; the papaya (p. carica), the sensitive 
plant, and other mimosas; the balsam-tree (amyris 
opobalsamum); and the tamarind.* The cedar is 

* Niebuhr gives the following names of undescribed trees: 



ARA&rA, 15 

hot found in Arabia, and there is little timber fit for 
building, the trees being mostly of a light, porous 
texture. Among the shrubs may also be enumerated, 
the coffee-plant, the indigo-shrub, the castor-oil plant 
(rtcmus communis), the senna, the aloe, the styrax, 
the sesamum (which supplies the place of the olive)^ 
the cotton-tree, the sugar-cane, the betel, the nutmeg' 
all sorts of melons and pumpions, the ouars, which 
yields a yellow dye, the foua, which supplies a red 
dye, and a great variety of leguminous plants, pot- 
herbs, and officinal herbs. Among the odoriferous 
plants are lavender, marjoram, the white lily, the 
globe amaranth (gomphrama globosa) , the sea-daffodil 
(pancratium mariiimum), various species of the pink, 
the ocymum, a beautiful species of basilic, the imula, 
a very odoriferous species of elicampane, the cacalia, 
the dianthera, the moscharia (so named by Forskal 
on account of its musky smell — it is found in the 
desert), the ipomcea (a plant of Indian origin resem- 
bling the rope-weed), and a beautiful species of hi- 
biscus. Wheat, Turkey corn, and dhourra, cover the 
plains of Yemen and some other fertile places; the 
horses are fed on barley, and the asses on beans.' 
Arabia is the original country of the horse,* the 

the elcaya, the keura, (both famous for their perfume,) the 
chadara, the antura, the culhamia, the catha (the buds 
of which are chewed), the oliban (frankincense tree), the 
tomex, the noemam, the gharib el baik, the sesleg, thebaka* 
and the anas. 

* Of the Arabian horse, there are two distinct breeds, the 
kadishi and the koshlani. The former are in no higher esti- 
mation than European horses, and are employed as beasts 
of burden. The latter are reserved for riding only. They 
are considered as sprung from the breed of Solomon, and a 
written genealogy of the breed has been preserved for 2,000 
years. The greatest care is taken to secure the purity of' the 
race. The best are bred by the Bedoweens in the northern 
desert. The koshlani are neither large nor handsome, but 



16 ARABIA. 

eamel,* and the wild ass.| There is a race of oxen 
with a hump on the back like those of Syria. The 
rock-goat inhabits the lofty hills of Arabia Petnea, 
and the plains are stocked with gazelles. There is a 
breed of sheep with broad, thick tails, but their wool 
is said to be coarse, and their flesh far from delicate. 
The fierce and solitary hyaena inhabits the caverns of 
the desert mountains, and is common on the shores 
of the Persian Gulf, where, marching out at night, 
it has been known to carry off children from beside 
their parents, while sleeping in the open air. Among 
the other carnivorous animals, are the nemer or pan- 
ther {felts pardus), the falh or ounce, the jackal 
(properly tschakal, called by the Arabians el vavi), 
wolves, foxes, and wild boars. The hare is seen in 
gome mountainous parts; the sandy tracks abound 
with the jerboa (mus jaculus) ,- and troops of mon- 

amazingly swift, ancl capable of sustaining great fatigue; they 
can pass entire days without food, and make an impetuous 
charge on an enemy. The Turks hold this noble breed in lit- 
tle estimation, preferring larger and more showy horses. 

* There are several species. Those of Yemen are small, 
and of a light brown colour: those from Nedjed are dark brown, 
large, and lubberly. The Arabian camel (djammel) is distin- 
guished from the Bactrian species (bocht) by having only one 
hump. The dromedary (hadjin, called droma, the runner, 
by the Greeks) varies from the camel, not in species, but in 
breed: it is of a light and slender frame, and swifter than the 
horse. A dromedary bears the same relation to a camel that 
a hunter does to a race-horse. Djammel is used as a generic 
term: hadjin always denotes a particular species. 

t There are two sorts of ass also in Arabia. The larger 
and more spirited breed are highly valued. In Yemen, the 
soldiers perform their patroles on asses, and every military 
service in which parade is not an object. Niebuhr thought 
them fitter for a journey than horses. He reckons the pro- 
gress which they make in half an hour at 1,750 paces, double 
the pace of a man. , The larger camels make 775 paces, and 
the smaller ones 500. 



ARABIA. - 17 

keys inhabit the hills of Aden, and the forests in the 
south of the peninsula. 

Eagles, falcons, and sparrow-hawks are among the 
birds of prey ; but the most serviceable is the carrion 
vulture (yultur petenopterus), which, besides clearing 
the earth of all carcases, and sharing with the dog, in 
most eastern cities, the indispensable office of sca- 
venger, here befriends the peasant by destroying the 
field-mice, which would otherwise, in some provinces, 
render the labours of the husbandman wholly abortive. 
The performance of these important services induced 
the ancient Egyptians to place this bird in their 
pantheon; and it is still held unlawful to kill them. 
A degree of respect bordering on adoration is paid to 
the samarmar or samarmog* a species of thrush 
(turdus Seleucus) which annually visits Arabia from 
eastern Persia in pursuit of the locust, and destroys 
immense numbers of those formidable enemies to 
vegetation. The ashjal is valued for two beautiful 
feathers in its tail, to preserve which uninjured, the 
bird is said to leave a hole in its nest.f The thaer 
el hind is a rare bird, which fetches a high price on 
account of its golden plumage : it is a bird of passage, 
supposed to come from India, The thaer es-djammel, 

* This is its name at Mosul and Aleppo. It is elsewhere 
called the abmelec. 

t Such was the statement given to M. Forskal, Niebuhr's 
companion, but he did not see the bird. A similar account is 
given of the quetzal by Juarros, in his History of Guatemala. 
The plumage of the bird is of an exquisite emerald colour. 
The tail feathers, which are very long, are favourite ornaments 
with the Indians, as those of the ashjal are with the Arabi- 
ans ; and * the birds themselves, as if they knew the high 
estimation their feathers are held in, build their nests with two 
openings, that, by entering at one, and quitting them by the 
other, their plumes may not be deranged.' — Mod. Trav., 
I Mexico, vol. ii, p. 289. Both of these birds are probably 
species of the genus pica paradises a, or bird of paradise. 

VOL. I. 2 # 



18 ARABIA. 

or camel-bird, is the name given to the ostrich, 
which is found in the deserts. The hudhud, a 
beautiful species of lapwing, is common on the shores 
of the Persian Gulf; and there is a tradition current 
among some of the natives, that its language may be 
understood. Tame fowls are very plentiful in the 
fertile districts. The woods of Yemen abound with 
the pheasant, the pintando or guinea-fowl, and the 
wood-pigeon. In the plains are to be seen the gray 
partridge, the common lark, and a white crane, with 
the under part of its belly of a beautiful red. A 
beautiful variety of the plover, and sometimes the 
stork, are seen in places which have water; and peli- 
cans and other sea-fowls are numerous on the coasts 
of the Red Sea. Niebuhr says, he heard much talk 
of two species of birds which are highly valued by 
the Arabians, called the salva and the sumana. The 
former, he understood to be a bird of passage of the 
rail species: as to quails, he could obtain no evidence 
of their being birds of passage. The fact is, that the 
salva (in Hebrew selav) is the quail; and the sumana 
is either the same bird, or of the same genus. That 
the quail is a bird of passage, is indubitable. 

All the coasts abound with fish. Niebuhr states, 
that he never met with the turtle, but the land-tor- 
toise is so common, that the peasants bring cart-loads 
of it to the markets of several towns : it forms the chief 
food of the Christians during Lent and other fasts. 
On the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, all the 
domestic animals are fed chiefly on fish, and the 
hysena js sometimes obliged to content himself with 
the same food. The flying fish is found in the Red 
Sea, together with a great variety of undescribed 
species, including a peculiar genus of torpedo. All 
Arabians eat locusts: the Turks, on the contrary, 
have an aversion to this food. The muken, or red 
locust, is preferred as the fattest and most delicate 
species. The dabbe, another species, is not deemed 



ARABIA. 19 

esculent, because it tends to produce diarrhoea. The 
flesh of the locust is said to resemble the small sardine 
of the Baltic* 

There are several sorts of serpents in Arabia; but 
the only one that is much dreaded, is a small slender 
species called the baetan, spotted black and white, the 
bite of which is said to be instantly fatal. There is 
a species of flying or leaping serpent which, by means 
of its elastic tail, springs from branch to branch of a 
tree till it reaches the top. Of the various sorts of 
lizard, the guaril is said to equal the crocodile in 
strength; and the species called jekko by the Egyp- 
tians, is dangerous from the venomous properties of 
its saliva. The arda, a species of ant (termesfatale), 

* e We saw locusts,' says Niebuhr, < put into bags or on 
strings, to be dried, in several parts of Arabia. In Barbary, 
they are boiled, and then dried upon the roofs of the houses. 
The Bedouins of Egypt roast them alive, and devour them 
with the utmost voracity. The Jews in Arabia are convinced 
that the fowls of which the Israelites ate so largely in the de- 
sert, were only clouds of locusts, and laugh at our translators., 
who have supposed that they found quails where quails never 
were.' This notion, however, which has been adopted by 
Ludolphus, and favoured by Bishop Patrick and Saurin, has 
been ably refuted by Harmer and others. The Septuagint, 
Josephus, and all commentators, ancient and modern, have 
understood the Hebrew selav, or shalav> as signifying quails. 
Mohammed, speaking of the miracle in the Koran, uses the 
Arabic salva, which is explained by one of his commentators 
as the same as the samani (in Persian setnavah), the quail. 
In Psal. Ixxviii, 27, the selavim^&xe termed ouph canaph, 
fowls of the wing. Maundrelf asked the Samaritan high- 
priest of Nablous, what sort of animal he took the sela- 
vim to be, and he described it as a fowl answering to the quail. 
Josephus remarks, that the Arabian Gulf is peculiarly favour- 
able to the breeding of these birds ; Pliny and others mention 
their astonishing numbers ; and Diodorus describes the man- 
ner in which they are caught near Rhinocolura, in terms simi- 
" 1r to those of the sacred historian. 



20 ARABIA. 

the scolopendra, and the tenebrio, are among the in- 
sect tormentors. 

According to Niebuhr, Arabia contains at present 
no mines of either gold or silver; but M. Malte Brun 
remarks, that the positive and unanimous testimony of 
the ancients will not permit us to doubt of ihe 
former wealth of the Arabian mines. All the gold 
now in circulation is drawn from Abyssinia or Eu- 
rope; and it is remarkable, that the Arabians are 
much infected with the mania of alchemy. In Omaun, 
there are very rich lead mines, and a large quantity 
is exported from Mascat. There are iron mines 
in the district of Saade, but the iron which they yield 
is brittle. The onyx is common in Yemen; the 
agate called the Mocha-stone, comes from Surat; and 
the finest cornelians are brought from the Gulf of 
Cambay. Our knowledge of the natural productions 
of this country cannot be' regarded, however, as by 
any means complete. The pearl-fishery carried on in 
the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Bahhrein, was esti- 
mated to produce, in the sixteenth century, the 
annual sum of 500,000 ducats. It is still valuable. 

This rapid sketch of the physical geography and 
productions of Arabia, will receive further illustration 
as we proceed with our topographical description 
of those parts which have been visited by modern tra- 
vellers. But we must first cast a retrospective glance 
at the history of this interesting country, stretching 
back into the twilight of time. 

HISTORY OF ARABIA. 

According to the traditions of the country, 
Arabia was originally peopled by several famous 
tribes, which are now extinct. The tribe of Aad, the 
son of Uz, the son of Aaram, the son of Saum r 
or Shem, settled in Al Ahkaf, in the province of 
Hadramaut. Here Aad founded a magnificent city, 



ARABIA. 21 

which was furnished by his son Shedtid, who built 
a fine palace with delicious gardens, called the garden 
of Irem. This city is believed to be still standing in 
the desert of Aden, but to be miraculously hidden 
from view. The descendants of Aad, who were 
giants, fell into idolatry, and the prophet Houd 
was sent to reclaim them: on their refusing to hear 
him, God sent a hot and suffocating wind, which blew 
for a week, and destroyed them all, except a few 
believers who retired with the prophet. A small 
town near Hasek, called Kabr Houd (the sepulchre 
of Houd}, is said to be his burial-place. The tribe 
of Thamoud were also descended from Aaram by his 
son Gether: they first dwelt in Yemen, but, being 
expelled by Hamyar the son of Saba, they settled in 
the territory of Hajar (Petra), ( where their habita- 
tions cut out of the rocks, mentioned in the Koran, 
are still to be seen.' They too, fell into idolatry, 
and, on refusing to listen to the prophet Salah, were 
destroyed by an earthquake. The tragical destruc- 
tion of these two powerful tribes, is often insisted on 
in the Koran as instances of the Divine judgments 
on unbelievers. # The tribe of Amelek, the son of 
Eliphaz, the son of Esau (though some oriental 
writers deduce his pedigree from Ham,"]" and others 
from Azd, the son of Shem), became very powerful, 
and, extending themselves westward, conquered the 
lower Egypt under their King Walid, before the time 
of Joseph;J but, after they had reigned there for 

* A portion of the posterity of Aud (or Aad) and Tha- 
moud, however, extended themselves eastward, and, accord- 
ing to the Arabian historians, were denominated Armanians or 
Armenians, because Aud was the son of Aaram. Certain 
chiefs of this double stock of Aud and Thamoud rose to power 
in Irak, on the ruins of the Ashkanian monarchy. 

t Cham, Aram, Uz, Aad, Amalek. — See Reland, lib. 
***!, c. 14. 

X This tradition refers evidently to the Phoenician shepherds 
of the Egyptian histories. The invasion of Egypt by the 



22 



ARABIA, 



some generations, they were expelled by the natives, 
and at length extirpated by the Israelites. 

The present Arabians, according to their own his- 
torians, are sprung from two stocks, Kahtan, or 
Joktan, the son of Eber, and Adnan, the lineal 
descendant of Ishmael. The posterity of the former 
they call al Arab al Ariba, i. e. pure Arabs ; that of 
the latter, al Arab al Mostareba, i. e. mixed Ara- 
bians.* Yarab, one of the sons of Kahtan, is stated 
to have founded the kingdom of Yemen,| and Jor- 

shepherd-kings is fixed by Archbishop Usher, A. M. 1920, 
eighty-eight years before the birth of Abraham. Bishop Cum- 
berland supposes it to have taken place A.M. 1937. — See 
Bryakt's Mythol. vol. vi, p. 153. 

* This distinction seems alluded to by the prophet Jeremiah: 
« And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled 
people that dwell in the desert.' — Jer. xxiv, 24. 

t In Gen. x, we read that Joktan, the brother of Peleg, be- 
gat Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, 
Diklah, Obal, Abimuel, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab ; 
and ' their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sep- 
har, a mount of the East.' Many of these names are clearly 
refeirible to Arabia. Hazarmaveth has been conjectured to be 
Hadramaut, which is not improbable; Uzal is the ancient name 
of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen; Sheba is the ancient Saba; 
and Havilah is Khaulan. Mesha has been somewhat fanciful- 
ly identified with Mekka. To Yarab is ascribed the invention 
of the Arabic language, — an idle legend. He left a son named 
Yashjeb, or Yash-hab, who was the father of Seba, surnamed 
Abdus shemss, i. e. worshipper of the sun ; the parent, as it 
should seem, of the Sabean idolatry. He is said to have been 
entitled Seba (from Shabah, in Keb. captivity), because he 
introduced the practice of making slaves of captives. It is, 
however, improbable that Seba was a surname, and its etymo- 
logy is doubtful. Sheba and Seba were evidently distinct 
names (see Gen. x, 7-; and Psal. Ixxii, 10); and yet, they are 
often confounded or put for one another. The name of Abdus- 
shemss was probably Sheba, since a son of Joktan of that 
name is mentioned in the tenth chapter of Genesis. Seba was 
a son, and another Sheba a grandson of Cush, the son of Ham. 
The Sabeans were evidently Cushites: compare Isa. xliii, 3; 
xlv, 14. They were believed to have spread from Chuzest^n, 



ARABIA, • 23 

ham, another son, that of Hedjaz. The posterity of 
Jorham reigned in Hedjaz til] the time of Ishmael 
who married into this tribe, and his second son 
Kedar (Keidaur) is said to have succeeded to the 
throne. The descents from Ishmaei to Adnan are 
variously given, and are confessedly uncertain ; but 
a regular genealogy brings down the descents from 
Adnan to Koreish, the ancestor of Mohammed. In 
the mean time, the greater part of Arabia Felix,'com- 
prising Yemen, Saba, and Hadramaut, were governed 
by princes of the tribe of Hamyar (Himyar, or 
Homeir), who bore the general title or surname of 
Tobbaa. The kingdom of the Hamyarites, or Home- 
rites, is said to have lasted upwards of 2,000 years. 
During this period, there were several petty sove- 
reigns in different parts of Yemen, but they were for 
the most part subject to the Hamyarite sovereign, 
who was distinguished as the great king.* The 
annals of the Hamyarite dynasty are doubtless 

the Asiatic Ethiopia, along the banks of the Euphrates and the 
shores of the Persian Gulf. Abdus-shemss left three sons, 
Kahlaun (Khaulan — Havilah? ) , Mezzah, and Hameir or Mag- 
yar. Kahlaun was the progenitor of the Beni Lakhem and 
Hem dhassan. He was succeeded by his brother Hamyar- the 
founder of the Hamyarite dynasty, who is supposed to have 
been contemporary with the patriarch Abraham. 

* Hareth ul Rayesh, the twenty-first in descent from Ham- 
yar, first assumed the title of Tobba, as lord of all Yemen 
His authority is said to have extended to the shores of India' 
and he pushed his conquests into Irak and even Azerbaijani*' 
Yet, he acknowledged the paramount authority of the Persian 
monarch Manutcheher (Mandauces, said to have been con- 
temporary with Moses,) whose power extended to the remotest 
limits of the west; the Pharaohs of the race of Amlak (Amalek) 
alone disputed the supremacy of the Persian monarchs. Ha- 
reth ul Rayesh was succeeded by his son Abramah, or Abrahali 
surnamed Zulmenaur, whose son Obed Zalazzaur was succeed- 
ed by Modaud, the son of Sherauhil. This Modaud was suc- 
C ? e « . b y Bahkeiss, his daughter or sister, the celebrated queen 
of Saba (Sheba), or Maureb. • 



c?A ARABIA. 

blended with fable, but there seems to be good reason 
to believe that some of these Arabian monarchs were 
both enterprising and powerful. Abu Kurrub Tobbaa 
(£. e. the father of affliction, a surname acquired by 
his victories and his cruelties) is said to have pro- 
ceeded by the route of Mossoul into Azerbaijaun, 
where he combated and defeated the Tartars. On 
his return, he received an embassy from the sovereign 
of Hindustan, proffering terms of amity. The rare 
articles presented by the ambassador led to inquiries 
respecting the country which produced them, and for 
the first time the Arabian prince heard of the 
existence of China. On the departure of the Indian 
embassy, the Tobbaa determined on an expedition 
to that distant country. Having by some means led 
his army through the territory of Balkh to the fron- 
tiers of Hindustan, he proceeded through Turkestan, 
skirting the territory of Tibet, where he left a divi- 
sion of 12,000 Arabs as a body of reserve, to retire 
upon in case of discomfiture. He finally succeeded in 
penetrating the boundaries of the Chinese monarchy, 
and, after plundering the cities in all directions, 
returned with an immense booty, through western 
Tartary, into India, whence he conducted his army 
safely back to Yemen, having consumed seven years 
in this remote and perilous expedition. The 12,000 
Arabs were never, however, withdrawn from Tibet, 
and vestiges of the race are still to be discovered 
in different parts of Turkestan. The city of Shamer- 
kand (from kenden, to destroy, converted by the Arabs 
into Samarkand), is said to have been founded by this 
conqueror on the site of the capital of Soghd, which he 
overthrew. Such is the account given by the native his- 
torians ; and, < without admitting to its full extent,' 
says the writer to whom we are indebted for these 
details, c the reality of this expedition, we shall only 
remark, that, on its early conquest by the Mahom- 
medan armies, an inscription was found engraven on 



ARABIA. 25 

the gates of Bokhara, expressly recording the presence 
of Tobbaa the Hamyarite, at least in that neighbour- 
hood : otherwise we should have been disposed to 
consider the whole as an extravagant fabrication,'* 
Abu .Kurrub (named also Shaumer-beraush,) is sup- 
posed to have been contemporary with Bahman, 
King of Persia, about A.C. 465. f 

Alexander the Great is said to have contemplated 
the invasion of Arabia ; and the fleet of Nearchus 
was preparing to make the circuit of the peninsula, 
when the death of the conqueror terminated all his 
magnificent designs. The territories of the Persian 
monarchy included between the Tigris and the Gxus, 
remained in the possession of the Mulouk-id-Towaeif, 
or chiefs of various tribes, among whom they had 
been partitioned, for a period of 523 years, which 
brings down the history to the first year of the third 
century of the Christian era. Several princes, indeed, 
in the course of these five centuries, obtained posses- 
sion of Irak Arab, Medaeine, and even Rey and 
Isfahaun, and were acknowledged as lords paramount 
by these independent chieftains. The most famous of 
these monarchs was Ashak, the founder of the Arsa- 
cedianor Parthian dynasty, about A. C. 250. It was 
during the reign of Shahpoor (Sapor,) the son of 
Ashak (Arsaces) II, according to one Arabian his- 

* Price's Essay towards the History of Arabia, p. 98. 

t Major Price is disposed to place him earlier, as contempo- 
rary with Lohorasp, the successor of Kia Khosrou, who died 
A. C. 529; but this is hardly reconcilable with the subsequent 
chronology. Aba Kurrub Berraush was succeeded by his son 
Aba Malek ben Berraush, whose son Akren succeeded to the 
throne, under the title of Tobbaa Sauny. Zu Jeshaun, the son 
of Akren, and, consequently, great-grandson of Shaumer Ber- 
raush, is said to have been contemporary with Darab II, (Da- 
rius Codomanus), and Iscandeer (Alexander of Macedon), 
and to have reigned for seventy years. 

VOL. I. 3 



26 ARABIA. 

torian, that the Messiah was born, and John the Bap- 
tist released ; but, according to others, the destruction 
of Jerusalem, (which is asserted to have been accom- 
plished by the direction of the Persian monarch, to 
avenge the death of John, the son of Zechariah,) took 
place in the reign of Baharam Gondurz, the son of 
Bellaush, the fifteenth monarch of that dynasty. The 
fact is, that there is a chasm of two centuries in the 
Persian annals, between the last mentioned sovereign 
and Shahpoor, the son of Ashak II, during which 
period Phrahates, Orontes, and Mithridates the 
Great, an intrusive dynasty, occupied the throne. 
Ardavan (Artabanus V), the last of the Arsacedian 
race, was slain by the founder of the Sassanian 
dynasty, Ardasheir, Baubegan (Artaxerxes I), early 
in the third century. Amru ben Tobbaa, king of 
Yemen, is stated to have been the contemporary of 
Shahpoor (Sapor I), the son of Ardasheir ; and the 
successor of this Amru, Abed Kullaul ben Massoub, is 
said to have embraced Christianity, though lie ^as 
deterred by political motives from openly avowing his 

belief. 

Soon after the time of Alexander the Great, ac- 
cording to the authorities cited by Sale, a catastrophe 
took place in the kingdom of Yemen, which led to 
the emigration of eight tribes, and the foundation of 
the kingdoms of Ghassan and Heirah. c Abdshems 
(or Abdus-shemss) having built the city from him 
called Saba, and afterwards Mareb, made a vast 
mound or reservoir to receive the water which came 
down from the mountains, not only for the use of the 
inhabitants, and watering their land, but also to 
keep the country they had subjected in greater awe, 
by being masters of the water. This building stood 
like a mountain above the city, and was by them 
esteemed so strong, that they were in no apprehension 
of its ever failing. The water rose to the height of 
almost twenty fathoms, and was kept in on every side 



ARABIA. 27 

by a work so Solid, that many of the inhabitants had 
their houses built upon it. Every family had a certain 
portion of this water distributed by aqueducts. But 
at length, God being highly displeased at their great 
pride and insolence, and resolving to humble and 
disperse them, sent a mighty flood, which broke down 
the mound by night, while the inhabitants were 
asleep, and carried away the whole city, with the 
neighbouring towns and people.* c This probably/ 
it is added, < was the time of the migration of those 
tribes, or colonies, which were led into Mesopotamia 
by three chiefs, Bekr, Modar, and Rabia, from whom 
the three provinces of that country are still named 
Diyar Bekr (Diarbekir), Diyar Modar, and Diyar 
Rabia. ' One of the tribes' who left the country, as 
it is alleged, on account of this inundation, was the 
tribe of Azd, who settling in Syria Damascena, 
near a water called Ghassan, thence took their name, 
and drove out the Dajaamian Arabs of the tribe of 
Salih,| who before possessed the country. Here they 
maintained their kingdom, some say 400, others (as 
Abulfeda) above 500 years. Five of these princes 
were named Hareth, which the Greeks write Aretas ; 
and one of them it was whose governor ordered the 
gates of Damascus to be watched to take St Paul. 
This tribe became Christians. Their last king, 
Jabalah, the son of Al Ayham, on the success of the 
Arabs in Syria, professed Mohammedism under the 
Khalif Omar ; but, receiving a disgust from him, 
returned to his former faith, and retired to Constan- 
tinople. The princes of this race were called the 
Beni Haneifah, from their founder. The other tribe 
referred to, who founded the kingdom of Heirah, m 

* If this reservoir was constructed by Abdus-shemss, it 
must have lasted, at this time, about 1,700 years. 

+ A mountain near Damascus still bears the name of Sal- 
ehiyeh. See Mod. Trav., Syria, vol. ii, pp.36, 64. 



82 ARABIA. 

Chaldea, or Irak, were descendants of Kahlaun ;* 
but, after a few descents, the sovereignty fell, by 
intermarriage, to the Beni Lakhem, whose princes 
bore the title of Mondar (or Munzer).f Notwith- 
standing some small interruption from the Persians^ 
they preserved their dominion up to the khalifate of 
Abubeker, a period of 622 years, when Al Mondar 
al Maghrur, (Munzer V,) the last of this race, lost 
his life and crown by the arms of Khaled Ebn al 
Walid. These princes were, for the most part, under 
the protection of the kings of Persia, whose lieu- 
tenants they were over the Arabs of Irak, as the kings 
of Ghassan were lieutenants of the Roman emperors 
over the Syrian Arabs. 

Other native historians cited by Major Price, give 
a different account of the origin of the Arabian colo- 

* These Arabs of Bahhrein and Yemaumah are stated to 
have emigrated From Mekka and other parts of Hedjaz, being 
compelled by the scarcity of food to disperse and seek a new 
settlement. They were chiefly of the tribe of Azd, and were 
all, without exception, idolaters. The most distinguished of 
these chieftains was Malek ben Nemeir, otherwise ben Fohem, 
who fixed the seat of his government at Heirah. Among the 
Arabs who settled in Yemaumah were the united tribes of 
Tasm (or Tassem), the reputed posterity of Loud, the son of 
Shem, and Jadish (or Jadeiss), the descendants of Jether, 
who became completely extirpated in a civil contest, which 
led to the invasion and desolation of their country by Hassaun- 
foen-Tobba, the monarch of Yemen, a short time before the 
fall of the last of the Arsacidse. 

t It should rather have been said, that several of the prin- 
ces of Heirah bore this name. There appear to have been 
five of the name of Munzer or Mondar ; three reigned under 
the name of Amrul Kaiss ; there were three Niaumans (Naa- 
man), and other names occur at intervals in the succession. 
The seat of their government was at first fixed at Anbaur, but 
transferred to Heirah by Amru the son of Auddy, the first of the 
Benni Lakhem who attained the sovereignty. The establish- 
ment of this petty dynasty is calculated to have occurred about 
A.D. 12, the invasion of Bahhrein by Khaled having taken 
place A.D. 633. 



ARABIA. c 29 

nies of Irak. Many Arabs of the tribes of Azd and 
Lakhem are said to have followed Abu Kurrub in his 
victorious expeditions, and to have remained by the 
way in Irak and other parts of the country through 
which he marched. But Heira and Anbaur in par- 
ticular are stated, by another authority, to have been 
peopled by the race of Moaud, the son of Adnan, who 
were carried away captive from Arabia by Bakhtu- 
nusser or Nabukhtnnusser (Nebuchadnezzar) in his 
expedition against that country in the reign of Loho- 
rasp, King of Persia.* This same Bakhtunusser is 
related, by the Arabian historian, to have conducted 
an expedition into Syria and Palestine, where he de- 
stroyed the Beit-ul-mukoddess, the house of the most 
holy, at Jerusalem, and returned to Irak with nume- 
rous captives. After this, on learning that the king 
of Egypt had given shelter to a number of Jewish 
refugees, whom he refused to give up, Bakhtunusser 
invaded Egypt with a powerful army, killed the king 
in battle, and returned with an immense booty. A 
number of the Jews who fled from Syria, and latterly 
from Egypt, found their way into Hedjaz, and esta- 
blished themselves in the vicinity of Yathreb, (as 
Medinah was then called,) where they founded several 

* This Bakhtunusser is described as the governor of Baby- 
Ion and Irak. He was succeeded in his government, which is 
represented, however, as a mere lieutenancy of the Persian 
empire, by his son Lemrouje, who was succeeded by his son 
Balt-un-nusser. The latter is said to have been slain and 
superseded, in pursuance of the order of the Persian monarch 
Ardesheir Derrauzdust (Artaxerxes Longimanus), by Dareious 
the Sage, on whose death, the lieutenancy of Babel and Irak 
was given to Ahatoutous (Ahasuerus), who is said to have es- 
poused a Jewess named Aysser (Esther), by whom he had a 
son named Keyresh (Cyrus), who succeeded him. Though 
the chronology of the Arabian historian is involved in some 
confusion, the coincidence of the general out-line with the 
Scripture history stamps it with authenticity. 

VOL. I. 3 # 



30 ARABIA. 

towns; among others, Khaibar, Foreizah (or Korei- 
zah,) Wady-ul-Kora, Fedak and Wady-us-Sebboua. 

On the extinction of the Ashkanian or Arsacedian 
dynasty by Ardesheir Baubegan, the territory of the 
lower Tigris and Euphrates is said to have been taken 
possession of by certain Arabian tribes from Bahh- 
rein, who pushed forward as far as the passes of 
Hulwaun: the country eastward of that mountain 
boundary was at this time still in possession of the 
independent princes called the Mulouk-e-Towaeif* 
' The Arabians succeeded in making themselves 
masters, for a time, of all that lies between the straits 
of Hulwaun and the Tigris, and westward to Anbaur 
and Heirah, comprehending the whole of the territory 
called from them Irak Arab. Syria and Anatolia, 
or Roum, were still under the dominion of the Ro- 
mans; and the greater ...part of the habitable world 
was thus disposed of, until the period at which Arde- 
sheir Baubegan added to his other triumphs by sub- 
verting the power of the Mulouk-e-Towxeif, to whose 
possessions (in Khorassaun and Irak Adjem) he then 
succeeded. This celebrated monarch, moreover, ex- 
tended his conquests to the whole of the countries 
westward of the straits of Hulwaun to the Tigris, and 
to the whole of Irak Arab and Babel; expelling the 
Arabs from every part of the country into which they 
had obtruded themselves, — from the rich levels of 
Mesopotamia, from Heirah and Kufah, and finally 
chasing them back again into the heart of their 
native wilds, — into Bahhrein and all the way into 
Hedjaz, where they were compelled to acknowledge 
themselves tributary to the Persian conqueror.' 

Great numbers, however, of the Mulouk-el-Nazzer 

* These tribes were Adjem or genuine Persians: the territo- 
ries of which they retained possession, were the districts oi 
Hamadaun, Isfahaun, Jubbaul, Roy, Kohestaun, Koummiss, 
and the whole of Khorassaun. 



ARABIA. 31 

(the name by which these intrusive Arabs were dis- 
tinguished) survived the invasion of Ardesheir, and 
were permitted by the conqueror to occupy the coun- 
tries of Bahhrein, Yemen, and Hedjaz, under the 
princes of Heirah. The Persian monarch permitted 
the Arab sovereign of Bahhrein to retain the town 
of Heirah, his capital, and its dependences, but rigo- 
rously reclaimed from him the whole of Irak Arab. 
Shapoor, the son of Ardesheir, appears, however, to 
have restored the government of Irak to Araru '1 
Keyss, the son of Amru-ben-Auddy, of the race of 
ISTazzer, together with that of all Arabia ; and this 
species of viceroyalty continued to be enjoyed by the 
princes of this house for a period of 114 years, in- 
cluding ten successions of the Persian monarchy. 
This Amru '1 (or Abdul) Keyss is represented to have 
been a Christian converted from idolatry. 

In the reign of Hormuz II, the son of Narzi 
(Narses), the seventh monarch of the Sassanian dy- 
nasty, a tribute being demanded by the Persian mo- 
narch of the Syrian Arabs of Ghassan, that tribe, 
trusting to the protection of their Roman allies, re- 
fused to comply with the exaction. Before any foreign 
aid could reach them, they were defeated, and expelled 
the territory by the Persian troops ; but. a body of 
Arabs waylaid Hormuz in the desert, and put him and 
his attendants to the sword. He was succeeded by 
his posthumous child, Shapoor II. Availing them- 
selves of his minority, the Arabs of Bahhrein, collect- 
ing an invading army from almost every tribe, crossed 
the Persian Gulf, and entered the province of Fars, 
plundering the country in all directions. Dreadful 
was the retaliation which these marauders drew down 
upon their country. 'No sooner had Shapoor attained 
the age of sixteen, than he put in execution the long 
cherished purpose of revenge. His first enterprise 
was to clear the province of Fars of these invaders, 
consisting of the tribes of Benni Temeim, Benni 



32 ARABIA. 

Bukker, Benni Waeil, and Benni Abdul Keyss, not 
one being allowed to escape, and their blood is de- 
scribed as flowing in rivulets to the sea. Soon after, 
young Shapoor crossed the Gulf into the territory of 
the Benni Abdul Keyss, where, renewing his career 
of slaughter, he put to the sword all of Arab race 
that fell into his hands. His troops were strictly 
prohibited from touching any plunder. He next, 
with astonishing rapidity, marched through the desert 
to Yathreb, massacring every Arab he met with, and 
filling up all the wells in his march. From Hedjaz, 
he continued his march into Palestine and Syria, even 
to the coasts of the Mediterranean ; then, turning 
northward, appeared before Aleppo, extending in 
every direction the dire effects of his vengeance. 
From Syria, he returned to Irak Arab, where he 
ultimately fixed. his residence at M Medaein (the 
cities, i. e. Ctesiphon and Seleucia on opposite sides of 
the Tigris.) But, in pursuing his plans of vengeance, 
Shapoor had touched too closely on the confines of the 
Roman empire, and the Arabs who fled from his fury, 
carried their wrongs to the court of Julian. These 
circumstances are represented to have led to that em- 
peror's fatal invasion of Persia, the details of which 
belong to Roman history. On the conclusion of the 
inglorious treaty of peace by which the Romans were 
suffered to withdraw from the Persian territory, Sha- 
poor turned the whole force of his vengeance on the 
now unprotected Arabs. He pursued them with un- 
sparing fury into all their retreats, putting them to 
death by various methods, sometimes with the aggra- 
vation of torture, till he had fairly satiated his re- 
venge. At length, the Arabs were brought to sue for 
mercy; and on their humble submission, Shapoor 
sent a considerable number of them to settle in the 
province of Kermaun, whose descendants, the Benni 
Thauleb, Benni Bukker, and Benni Abdul Keyss, 
existed there 700 years after. The sovereignty of 



.ARABIA. 33 

Arabia is stated to have been restored by Shapoor to 
a prince of the name of Amru, of the Benni Nazzer, 
and to have been continued in his family by the suc- 
ceeding monarcha down to Yezdejird II, which 
brings down the succession to the beginning of the 
seventh century. It is probable, that these princes 
took no part in the hostile invasion of Irak. 

We must now return to the affairs of Yemen; — for 
it does not appear that the south-western provinces 
of Arabia were included in the viceroyalty of Heirah, 
or that the princes of Yemen were ever tributary to 
the Persian monarch. At the time that the Arabs of 
Bahhrein took possession of Irak, Abu Kurrub 
Assaeid,the monarch of Yemen, is also stated to have 
found his way into that country with a numerous 
force, and every town was thronged with the influx 
of Arabs from all parts of the Peninsula. But, being 
compelled to retreat before the Persian forces, he 
again withdrew to his native mountains. The go- 
vernment of the Mulouk-ul-Nazzer, or princes of 
Heirah, included the territories of Irak Arab and 
Jezzeirah, together with the adjoining deserts, and 
nominally the whole of Hedjaz. Some remoter dis- 
tricts of Hedjaz, however, as well as the princedom 
of Yemen, it is admitted, were entirely independent 
of their authority. Ardesheir Bau began is said, in- 
deed, to have extended his subjugation of Arabia to 
Yemen, but no details are given. The same writer 
represents the countries of Bahhrein, Yemen, and 
Hedjaz to have been united under the government 
of the Mulouk ul-Nazzer, whereas their sove- 
reignty never extended over Yemen properly so called; 
nor does it appear that either Ardesheir or Shapoor 
ever crossed the southern desert. The former is 
stated simply to have chased the Arabs all the way to 
Hedjaz, and the latter proceeded from Hedjaz to 
Palestine and the north of Syria. In the reign of 



34 - ARABIA. 

Caligula, ^lius Gallus, prefect of Egypt, is recorded 
to have conducted a successful expedition into Arabia 
Felix or Yemen, where he reduced several cities. He 
landed at Medina, and marched nearly a thousand 
miles into the region between Mareb, the capital of 
the Sabsean Arabs, and the sea; but < the legions of 
Augustus,' to use the words of Gibbon, ' melted, 
away in disease and lassitude; and it is only by a 
naval power that the reduction of Yemen has been 
successfully attempted.'* This prefect is acknow- 
ledged by Pliny to have been the only one who ever 
led a Roman force into this country;! and in this 
instance, it is observable that the invaders came 
from the west, and by sea. He describes the Sabaeans 
as most wealthy, from the fertility of their odoriferous 
woods, their gold, their well-watered fields, and the 
abundance of their wax and honey — G alius ....reiuht 
SabcBos ditissimos siharum fertilitate odoriferd auri 
metallis, agrorum riguis, mellis cerwque proventu. 
Meriaba, or Merab, their capital, is stated to have 
been six miles in circumference. It was destroyed by 
the Roman invaders, and, according to Abulfeda, had 
not recovered from its overthrow in the fourteenth 
century. If there be any truth, however, in the 
story of the bursting of the reservoir, this will serve 
to account for the complete ruin of the city. It is 
very possible, that the mighty flood to which the 

* Gibbon remarks that tbe expressions found in Horace 
(Ode 29, lib. i; and Ode 24, lib. iii), non ante devictis Sa- 
bcecB regibus, and, intactis thesauris Arabum, attest the 
unconquered state of the country. We look for these expres- 
sions in vain in Francis's translation. Again we find the 
Roman bard alluding (Ode 12, lib.ii,) to the plenas Arabum 
domos; and Propertius thus compliments the Roman emperor 
(lib. ii, eleg. 10): 

India quin, Auguste, tuo dat colla triumpho, 

Et domus intactcB te tremit Arabia? 
f Lib- vi, c. 28. 



ARABIA. 35 

Arabian historians ascribe that catastrophe, Was, in 
fact, the Roman army, concerning the presence of 
which the impulse of national vanity led them to ob- 
serve a total silence. At all events, the emigration 
which is said to have followed on this event, is more 
satisfactorily explained by referring it to the desola- 
tion spread by the invaders; and it agrees pretty 
nearly in time with the expedition of the Egyptian 
prefect. ° 

It was reserved, however, for an Abyssinian con- 
queror to overthrow the Hamyarite monarchy; and 
here we must again have recourse to the Arabian 
historian. Sometime subsequent to the age of Baharam 
the Gour, we are told, and therefore towards the 
close of the fifth century, there reigned in Yemen a 
prince of the name of Assaeid, with the title of Tobba- 
ul-aukhir. Possessing a body of warriors both nume- 
rous and formidable, he conceived the design of quit- 
ting Yemen at their head, in order to make himself 
master of Hedjaz. Assaeid and his subjects, together 
with the people of Mekka and Medinah, and indeed, 
it is added, of Arabia in general at this period, were 
gross idolaters, with the exception of a particular ter- 
ritory surrounding Medinah, which was in the occu- 
pation of a colony of Jews, the descendants of those 
who fled from Palestine and Syria before the armies 
of Bakhtunusser. Christianity,, it would seem, had 
not yet extended itself beyond the confines of Syria 
in this direction; and no part of the Arabian territory, 
it is asserted by the historian, was at this period sub- 
ject to the authority of either Bourn or Persia. At 
the head of a numerous army, Assaid-uI-Tobba en- 
tered Hedjaz, and appeared in the neighbourhood of 
Mekka; but, finding that city a place environed by 
barren hills, without either water, trees, or herbage, 
he made no attempt to reduce it, but was prosecuting 
his march to Syria, when he was recalled to Medinah 
by the intelligence that the inhabitants of that town 



63 ARABIA. 



had slain his son, whom he appears to have left there. 
Here the narrative runs into the wildness of an apo- 
cryphal legend. Tobba Assaicl is represented to have 
been foiled in every attempt to make an impression 
on the place, and finding at length that the city was 
evidently under the peculiar protection of the <jod ot 
heaven, he became converted to the Jewish faith, and 
drawing off his forces, proceeded to Mekka, not as an 
invader, but to offer up his devotions in the temple 
of the Kaaba. At his death' he left three sons, 
Hussaun, Amru, and Zerraah, infants, during whose 
minority the sovereign power was exercised by an 
Arab Jew of the Benni Lakhem, called Rebbeiah 
(Rabbi?) Ben-ul-Nazzer ul Lakhemy; he was re- 
lated to the royal house of Heirah. As soon as Sus- 
saun had attained the age of discretion, Kebbeian, 
who was probably his tutor or guardian, retired witn 
his children to Heirah, and the last of the i obbaides 
ascended the throne of his fathers. His reign was 
brief: at the end of five years, he quitted Yemen at the 
head of his army on an expedition into Syria, under- 
taken in despite of the dissuasion of his officers. 1 he 
result was, that his troops revolted, and his own 
brother Amru headed the conspiracy, being chosen 
monarch in his stead. Hussaun was assassinated, but 
the fratricide is said never to have slept afterwards, 
and lived only long enough to avenge the murder 
on the chiefs who had instigated it. The third bro- 
ther was too young to sustain the cares of govern- 
ment, and, in the disorder which ensued, the throne 
was seized by a usurper named Honeifah. He was 
slain, and succeeded by Zu (or Dhu) Nowauss who 
appears to have been the son of Amru, tnough one 
account identifies him with Zerraah, the third bro- 
ther of Tobba-ul-assgher. Whatever was his origin, 
he is described as an execrable tyrant, and a fierce 
persecutor of the Christians. The Benni Thaleb who 
resided in the town of Nedjeraun, had embraced the 



ARACIA. 37 



religion of the Messiah, at the preaching of a Syrian 
Christian named Akeimoun. In consequence, it is 
alleged, of their having subsequently slain some Jews, 
because they would not turn Christians, Zu Nowauss, 
himself a Jew, invaded their territory with a power- 
ful army, and, having taken their city, massacred 
6,000 of the Christians of Nedjeraun, by throwing 
them into a trench filled with burning faggots and 
other combustibles. For this act of atrociouTcruelty, 
he and his associates are anathematised in the 
Koran.* A report of these cruelties being conveyed 
to the Christian Emperor of the East, the Ca3sar 
(Anastasius I,) instigated the Nejaush (sultan) ot 
Abyssinia . to undertake the invasion of Yemen. 
Accordingly, he sent a powerful army under two 
of his generals, and Zu Nowauss, fleeing before the 
invaders, is said to have spurred his horse into the 
sea, and perished. The government of Yemen was 
now assumed by Abrahah, or Abramah, one of the 
Abyssinian generals, who is said to have been origi- 
nally a slave. He reigned for three and twenty years, 
according to the Arabian annals, and was succeeded 
by his son Beksoum. Abrahah is stated to have led 
an army to the gates of Mekka, attended by a famous 
elephant, with the avowed design of demolishing the 
Kaaba; but his army was cut off, as is supposed, by 
the small-pox, or some other cutaneous complaint, 
and his design was thus miraculously frustrated! 

. * 'Accursed were the contrivers of the pit' (or lords of 
the pit) < of fire supplied with fuel, when they sat round the 
same, and were witnesses of what they did against the true 
believers; and they afflieted them for no other reason but 
because they believed in the mighty, the glorious God, 'unto 
whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth.' — Koran 
by bALE, chap, lxxxv. The inhabitants of Nedjeraun are 
stated to have been still Christians in the time of the Khalif 
Omar, who contented himself with levying on them a contri- 
bution double what was required from believers in the Koran 
VOL. I. 4 



go ARABIA. 

Mohammed was born in the same year, called the 
year of the elephant, A.D. S69. 

At the time of the Abyssinian invasion, a prince ot 
the ancient race of Hamyar yet survived; and when 
Abrahah Usurped the throne, this person whose name 
was Zi-Yazzen, made his escape, and earned his 
claims to the court of Anastasius. Fading -m > his 
application in that quarter, he repaired to the Feisian 
monarch; but the distracted state of the «*«V*- 
dered it inconvenient at that time to attend to his 
suit Zi-Yazzen died, bequeathing his claims to his 
son'Seyff, who urged them with more success onihe 
chivalrous Noushirvun. That monarch the nme- 
teenthoftheSassanian dynasty, had acceded to the 
throne of his father Kobaud, in the fifth year of the 
re gn of Justinian, A.D. 531 It^eould not torn- 
ever, be before the year 571, that he undertook the 
conquest of Yemen on behalf of his feudatory Seyff 
Ben Zi-Yazzen .* The expedition landed at a port m 
the neighbourhood of Aadden (Aden , where, ma 
short tLe, numbers of the Hamyantes joined the^ 
standard of their prince fessrouk, the successor of 
Beksoum, was slain; and the son of Zi-Yazzen, has 
tel ngTsanaa, seated himself without opposuion on 
he throne of his ancestors. His reign was however, 
of short duration. While hunting m the neigh- 
bouring desert, he was waylaid and murdered by a 
party of Abysinians, and with him terminated the 
race of Hamyar and the monarchy of Yemen. From 
he death of Seyff to the time of Mohammed the 
oovernment of Yemen devolved on the lieutenants of 

* The Arabian accounts make the reign of '^p^! 
son of Abrahah, extend to seventeen years ^d Jat of Mea s 
ouk, his successor, to twelve years, which wodd br ng us to 
A.D. 598; but Noushirvan died m A.D. 579. ine enromn oJ 
js evidently erroneous. 



ARABIA. 39 

the Persian monarch, who bore the title of Ameers 
or Emirs.* 

Noushirvan was now the sovereign paramount of 
Persia and Mesopotamia, part of India, Syria, and 
the whole of Arabia; — an extent of dominion never 
enjoyed by the most illustrious of his predeces- 
sors. For the first time, the whole of the penin- 
sula was subordinated to one sovereign. Munzer 
III, the son of Ma-us-semma, ruled at Heirah, as 
viceroy of Irak, Bahhrein, and Yemaumah; to which 
were added Mosul and Omaun; and the Bedoweens 
of the Desert, the genuine posterity of Ishmael, alone 
retained their wild and lawless independence. Gibbon 
remarks, that < the arms of Sesostris and Cyrus, of 
Pompey and Trajan, could never achieve the conquest 
of Arabia.' And even now that its princes were 
nominally the vassals of the Persian, it is doubtful 
whether they yielded any tribute to the foreigner. 
When the coasts of -the Arabian Gulf were subse- 
quently taken possession of by the Turks in the six- 
Gibbon has given a different version of this history, after his 
own manner. Dhu Nowauss will hardly be recognised in his pa- 
ges under the name of Bunaan ; Nedjeraun is turned into Negra , or 
JNagran ; and the Abyssinian Nejau~h is made into Negus. His ac- 
count of the affair is, that the Jews had seduced the mind of Du- 
naan, and urged him to retaliate the persecution inflicted by the 
imperial laws on their unfortunate brethren; that some Roman 
merchants were injuriously treated, and < several Christians of 
JVegra were honoured with the crown of martyrdom ;' on 
which, 'the churches of Arabia implored the protection of the 
Abyssinian monarch.' Having mentioned the result of the inva- 
sion, he thus concludes the chapter : 'After a long series of pros- 
perity, the power of Abrahah was overthrown before the gates of 
Mecca ; his children were despoiled by the Persian conqueror; 
and the Ethiopians were finally expelled from the continent 
ot Asia. If a Christian power had been maintained in Arabia, 
Mahomet must have been crushed in his cradle ; and Abys- 
sinia would have prevented a revolution which has changed 
the civil and religious state of the world." — Decline Snd 
rail, char), xm, 



40 ARABIA. 



teenth century, though the Pasha of Sanaa had 
twenty-one beys under his command, no revenue was 
ever remitted to the Porte. ' The Turkish sove- 
reign may exercise a shadow of jurisdiction,' remarks 
the Historian of the Homan Empire, ' but his pride 
Is reduced to solicit the friendship of a people whom 
it is dangerous to provoke, and fruitless to attack. 
The obvious causes of their freedom are inscribed on 
the character and country of the Arabs. The slaves 
of domestic tyranny may vainly exult in their national 
independence; but the Arab is personally free, and 
he enjoys in some degree the benefits of society, with- 
out forfeiting the prerogatives of nature. Iheir 
spirit is free, their steps are unconfined, the desert is 
open, and the tribes and families are held together by 
a mutual and voluntary compact.'* 

It must not, however, be forgotten, that, under the 
common name of Arabs, tribes differing very mate- 
rially in their filiation, their manner of lite, their 
dialect, and their advance in civilisation, have mcon- 
siderately been confounded. We have already ad- 
verted to the broad distinction, which is the founda- 
tion of almost a natural antipathy, between the 
dwellers in towns and the dwellers in tents, bo 
much, says Niebuhr, do the Bedoweens value them- 
selves on the purity of their descent, that they look 
with great contempt on the Arabs who live in cities, 
as a race debased by their intermixture with other 
nations; and no sheikh will marry the daughter ot a 
citizen, unless impelled by poverty to contract so 
unequal an alliance. Sale remarks, that the posterity 
of Ishmael have no claim to be admitted as pure 
Arabs, inasmuch as their ancestor was a Hebrew, 
and only intermarried with the Benm Jorham. I he 
fact is, that they are probably the only pure Arabs, 
and the Bedoweens of the present day glory in their 

* Gibbon, chap. 1. 



ARABIA. 41 



descent from Ishmael. But, independently of this 
difference of blood, so marked is the contrast between 
scattered pastoral tribes and an agricultural and com- 
mercial people — between a roving population, having 
no common head, no priesthood, no literature, in the 
earliest stage of civilization, and a nation like the 
Arabian, which, assuming, under the khalifate, the 
form of a compact empire, produced so many learned 
and illustrious men, and has left monuments of its 

grandeur in the three quarters of the Old World, 

that we have learned to attach different associations 
to the words Arab and Arabian, as if they designated 
the natives of different countries: the former we 
apply to the semi-civilized Bedoween, while the latter 
appellative recalls the names of Mohammed and 
Haroun al Raschid, of Saladin and Akbar, of Avi- 
cenna and Abulfeda, and the courts of Bagdadt, and 
Kahira, and Granada, and Ghizni. 

; Whatever may be the pedigree of the Arabs,' 
says Gibbon, * their language is derived from the 
same original stock as the Hebrew, the Syriac, and 
the Chaldee,' We introduce this remark for the 
purpose of connecting with it the fact, thai, at the 
time of Mohammed's appearance, there prevailed two 
leading and distinct dialects, — the Hamyaritic and the 
Koreish. The former is believed to have borne a 
strong affinity to the Ethiopic, which, in many 
respects, approaches to the Hebrew and the Syriac 
more nearly than to the Arabic of the Koran, The 
Arabian grammarians tell a story of an Arab of 
Hedjaz, who, on being directed by the king of the 
Hamyarites to sit down, threw himself ove? a pre- 
cipice, because the word theb, instead of sit down, 
signifies, in the Koreish dialect, leap down. The 
latter dialect is that which Mohammed himself spoke, 
and in which the Koran is written; it has, therefore,' 
become the classical, or, rather, the sacred language 
vol. i. 4* 



42 ARABIA. 

of the Mohammedans; but, so greatly does it differ 
from the modern dialects, according to Niebuhr, that 
the Arabic of the Koran may be regarded as a dead 
language, and it is now taught and studied at Mekka, 
as the Latin is at Rome. The written language of 
the higher classes has undergone little alteration, 
however, since the days of the khalifs. It is the 
spoken idiom that has departed so widely from the 
Arabic of the Koran, in consequence of having re- 
ceived so large a mixture of provincialisms and exotic 
words, while it has rejected the verbal inflexions 
which form the most striking distinction between the 
written Arabic and the other Semitic dialects. No 
language, again, Niebuhr says, is diversified by so 
many provincial dialects as the Arabic; but this 
arises chiefly from a difference of pronunciation* 
The original alphabet in use among the natives of 
the Peninsula, is believed to have been the Perse- 
politan or arrow-head character; and when the 
Koran first appeared, written in the Kufic character, 
the inhabitants of Yemen were unable to read it. The 
Kufic has, in its turn, been superseded by the modern 
characters, said to have been the invention of a vizier 
named Ibn Moklah, who lived about 300 years after 
Mohammed. The modes of writing in modern use 

* The chief varieties of the modern idiom are, the Syriac, 
the Egyptian, the Tripolitine, the Algerine, the dialect of Ye- 
men, and that of Omaun. The Egyptian is reckoned.purer 
and more strictly grammatical than the Syrian : the idiom ot 
the Arabs in the north-western part of Africa is the most cor- 
rupt. Niebuhr thought the pronunciation of the southern 
Arabs softer and better adapted to European organs, than that 
of Syria and Kahira. Among other variations in the pronun- 
ciation of different letters, the fta/of the northern and western 
tribes is changed, in Omaun, into tsh, as Bukhra, Kiab,-— 
pronounced at Mascat, B tsher, Tshi b. (Niebuhr.) The 
the is pronounced as t and s in Egypt, Barbary, and Syria. 
The jim in Egypt is hardened into g. 



ARABIA. 43 

differ, however, scarcely less widely than the several 
dialects. 

The trihe of Koreish were much addicted to com- 
merce, and Mohammed was brought up to the same 
pursuits. ( The ungrateful soil of their territory 
refused the labours of agriculture, and their position 
was favourable to the enterprises of trade. By the 
sea-port of Jidda, at the distance only of forty miles, 
they maintained an easy correspondence with Abys- 
sinia; and that Christian kingdom afforded the first 
refuge to the disciples of Mohammed. Mecca is 
placed almost at an equal distance, a month's journey, 
between Yemen and Syria. In the markets of Sanaa 
and Merab, in the harbours of Oman and Aden, the 
camels of the Koreishites were laden with n precious 
cargo of aromatics ; a supply of com and manu- 
factures was purchased in the fairs of Bostra and 
Damascus; the lucrative exchange diffused plenty 
and riches in the streets of Mecca; and the noblest 
of her sons united the love of arms with the pro- 
fession of merchandize. The cities of Mecca and 
Medina present, in the heart of Asia, the form, or 
rather the substance, of a commonwealth. The 
grandfather of Mohammed and his lineal ancestors 
appear, in foreign and domestic transactions, as the 
princes of their country; but they reigned, like 
Pericles at Athens, or the Medici at Florence, by the 
opinion of their wisdom and integrity: their influence 
was divided with their patrimony, and the sceptre 
was transferred from the uncles of the prophet to 
a younger branch of the tribe of Koreish.'* 

Such was the political state of Arabia at the time 
of Mohammed's appearance. Of the state of religion 
in the various principalities during what the Moslems 
call the times of ignorance, it is difficult to obtain a 
satisfactory account. The greater part of the people 

* Gibbon, chap. 1. 



44 ARABIA, 

are represented as being still involved in the Sabean 
idolatry, concerning which little is certainly known; 
but it is generally believed to have consisted in the 
adoration of < the host of heaven,' and the worship 
of images. < The ancient Arabians and Indians, 
says Sale, < between which two nations was a great 
conformity of religions, had seven celebrated temples, 
dedicated to the seven planets; one of which, in par- 
ticular, called Beit Ghomdan, was built in Sanaa, the 
metropolis of Yaman, by Dahac, to the honour of 
M Zoharah, or the planet Venus, and was demolished 
by the Khalif Othman. The temple of Mecca is said 
to have been consecrated to Zohal, or Saturn. Though 
these deities were generally reverenced by the whole 
nation, yet, each tribe chose some one as the more 
peculiar object of their worship. Thus, as to the 
stars and planets, the tribe of Hamyar chiefly wor- 
shipped the sun; Misam, M Debar an, the Bull's 
eye; Lakhm and Jodam, M Moshtari, or Jupiter; 
Tay, Sohail, or Canopus; Kais, Sirius; and Asad, 
Otared, or Mercury. Of the angels, or intelligences, 
which they worshipped, the Koran makes mention of 
only three which were worshipped under female 
names, MM, M Uzza, and Manah. These were by 
them called goddesses and daughters of God; an 
appellation they gave not only to the angels, but also 
to their images, which they either believed to be 
inspired with life by God, or else to become the taber- 
nacles of the angels, and to be animated by them; 
and they gave them divine worship, because they 
imagined they interceded for them with God.' 
Mat, i. e. the goddess, is said to have been the idol 
of the tribe of Thakif, who dwelt at Tayef, and 
to have had a temple at Nakhlah. M Uzza, i. e. the 
most mighty, is said to have been worshipped by the 
tribes of Koreish, Kenanah, and Salim: the acacia, or 
Egyptian thorn, appears to have been dedicated to her. 
Manahy the goddess of the tribes of Hodhail and Kho- 



ARABIA. 45 

zaah, who dwelt between Mekka and Medinah, is said 
to have derived her name from mana, to flow, alluding 
to the flowing of the blood of the victims sacrificed to 
her. This goddess is said to have been no other than 
a large rude stone. Besides these, the Koran men- 
tions five other popular idols ; Wadd, worshipped 
under a human form; Sawu, adored under the shape 
of a woman; Yaghuth, an idol in the shape of a lion; 
Yauh y or Yahuk, worshipped under the form of a 
horse; and JYasr, worshipped by the Hamyarites in 
the shape of an eagle. These idols are said to have 
been all representatives of men of great merit and 
piety. Besides these, every housekeeper had his 
household gods. The tribe of Hanifah are said to 
have worshipped a lump of dough. The images of 
Asaf and Nayelah, the former a male, the latter a 
female idol, the one placed on Mount Safah, the other 
on Mount Merwa, were also objects of adoration 
among the Koreish. These two idols are said to 
have been brought fromHobal in Syria; but a local 
tradition identifies them with two persons of the tribe 
of Jorham, who were converted into stone for defiling 
the Kaaba. The Kaaba itself (as the temple of Mekka 
is still called) is said to have contained 360 idols, 
equalling in number the days of their year. The 
genuine antiquity of this famous edifice ascends be- 
yond the Christian era. It is mentioned by Diodorus 
Siculus as revered for its superior sanctify by all the 
Arabians. The linen or silken veil, which is annually 
renewed by the Turkish emperor, was first offered 
by a king of the Hamyarites, 700 years before the 
time of Mohammed.* f The same rites which are 

* The Mohammedans contend, that it is the most ancient edi- 
fice on the globe, which it must be, if built, as their traditions 
say, by Abraham and his son Ishmael, on the site of an ante- 
diluvian tabernacle reared by Adam himself! The Tarikh 
Tebry makes Tobba-ul-Assaeid the first who covered the sa- 
cred edifice with a superb canopy, furnishing a precedent for 



46 ARABIA. 

now accomplished by the faithful Mussulman, were 
invented and practised by the superstition of the 
idolaters. At an awful distance they cast away their 
garments; seven times, with hasty steps, they encir- 
cled the Caaba, and kissed the black stone; seven 
times they visited and adored the adjacent moun- 
tains; seven times they threw stones into the valley 
of Mina; and the pilgrimage was achieved, as at the 
present hour, by a sacrifice of sheep and camels, and 
the burial of their hair and nails in the consecrated 
ground. Each tribe either found or introduced in 
the Caaba their domestic worship. The temple was 
adorned, or defiled, with 360 idols of men, eagles, 
lions, and antelopes; and most conspicuous was the 
statue of Hebal, of red agate, holding in his hand 
seven arrows without heads or feathers, the instru- 
ments and symbols of profane divination.* But this 
statue was a monument of Syrian arts: the devotion 
of the ruder ages was content with a pillar or a tab- 
let; and the rocks of the desert were hewn into gods 
or altars, in imitation of the black stone of Mecca. j" 
From Japan to Peru, the use of sacrifice has uni- 
versally prevailed; and the votary has expressed his 
gratitude or fear, by destroying or consuming, in 
honour of the gods, the dearest and most precious of 
their gifts. The life of a man is the most precious 
oblation to deprecate a public calamity: the altars of 

the practice which has ever since been continued; but if so, 
the custom is not older than the fifth century. We have here 
followed Gibbon, who refers to Pococke. 

* This statue of Hebal or Hobal is said to have been brought 
from Belka (qu. Baalbec or Baalgad ?) in Syria, by Amru 
Ebn Lohai. 

t This litholatry has been remarkably prevalent. Gibbon 
says, ' these stones were no other than the fixiTvxa of Syria 
and Greece, so renowned in sacred and profane antiquity,' — 
a word obviously derived from Bethel. Calmet says, the Ma- 
hommedans believe their temple at Mecca to be founded on 
the very stone which the patriarch Jacob anointed. 



ARABIA. 47 



Phoenicia and Egypt, of Rome and Carthage, have 
been polluted with human gore. The cruel practice 
was long preserved among the Arabs; in the third 
century, a boy was annually sacrificed by the tribe of 
the Dumatians;* and a royal captive was piously 
slaughtered by the prince of the Saracens, the ally 
and soldier of the emperor Justinian. 'f 

Arabia afforded an asylum to the persecuted dis- 
ciples of Zoroaster, numbers of whom are stated to 
have settled in the province of Bahhrein At an 
early period, it has already been mentioned, that 
Arabia received colonies of fugitive Jews: and 
during the wars of Titus and Hadrian, multitudes 
are said to have joined their countrymen The 
tribes of Kenanah, Al Hareth Ebn Caaba, and Ken- 
dan, with some others, embraced the Jewish faith: and 
long before the reign of Bhu JYowauss, 700 years 
before the time of Mohammed, Abu Kurrub Assaeid, 
king of Yemen, introduced Judaism among the ido- 
latrous Hamyantes. At what time Christianity was 
hist preached m the Arabian peninsula, does not ap- 
pear; but as there were Arabian Jews at the feast of 
Pentecost^ the knowledge of the Gospel must have 
been, at all events, introduced there from its first 
promulgation. St Paul long resided in the Syrian 
kingdom of Aretas;§ and it is in the highest degree 
improbable, that the Koreishite traders, who fre- 
quented the fairs of Bostra and Damascus, should 
not have heard, and some of them have been discipled 
by, the preaching of the apostle. Among those who 
fled from Palestine to Arabia before the armies of 
Vespasian and Titus, there were doubtless many 

* Dumsetha, or Daumat al Jendal, is described by Ptolemy 
as m the mid-desert between Khaibar and Tadmor 

I ft ChaP « * • , •• * Acts ii, 11. 

§ Mod. Prav., Syria, vol. u, p. 85. 



48 ARABIA. 

Christians.* Still, it is remarkable, that no part of 
the Holy Scriptures is known to have been translated 
into any of the dialects of Arabia. It is inferred only 
•by Gibbon, that an Arabic version must have existed, 
< 1. from the perpetual practice of the synagogue, of 
expounding the Hebrew lesson by a paraphrase in the 
vulgar tongue of the country; and, 2. from the ana- 
logy of the Armenian, Persian, and Ethiopic versions, 
expressly quoted by the fathers of the fifth century, 
who assert that the Scriptures were translated into 
all the Barbaric languages.' But it is probable that 
the Syriac was the vernacular idiom of the Arabian 
Jews. And if the only alphabet used in Yemen, prior 
to the Kufic, was the arrow-head character, and the 
Kufic itself had been but lately introduced at Mekka 
from the banks of the Euphrates, it does not seem very 
probable, that the mountaineers of Yemen ever possess- 
ed a version of the Anjeil (Gospel). The first mo- 
narch of Yemen who is recorded to have been a 
Christian, appears to have reigned at the beginning of 
the fourth century, by which time Christianity had 
widely departed from the religion of the New Testa- 
ment. Frequent mention, indeed, is made, in the 
early monuments, of the bishops of Arabia; and a 
bishop of Busorah (Bozra?) was present at -the coun- 
cil of Antioch, A.D. 269 ;f but those bishops, we ap- 
prehend, were Syrians, not Arabians, and their sees 
were either in Mesopotamia, or within that part of 
Arabia Petrsea distinguished in ecclesiastical history 
as the Third Palestine. The first Christian king of 
Heirah is said to have been the Amrul Keyss who 
was contemporary with Behraum I, the great-grand- 

* Procopius asserts, that < the disciples of Christ had filled 
the provinces of Arabia with the churches of God.' 

t See Buchanan's Christian Researches, p. 280. Bassora, 
or Bussora, in Irak, was built by Omar in the 15th year of 
the Hegira. It is probable that Boszra or Bostra, the capital 
of Arabia Provincia, is the see in question. 



ARABIA. 49 

son of Ardesheir Baubegan, and who must therefore 
have reigned some time in the fourth century.* 

Of the history of primitive Christianity in Arabia, 
then, we know nothing. Probably, the early Chris- 
tian societies were few and scattered, and the disor- 
dered state of the country, in consequence of the Per- 
sian and Roman invasions, would lead them to take 
refuge in other countries, — in Abyssinia, Hindostan' 
and Armenia. When we descend to the third, fourth, 
and fifth centuries, we are no longer at a loss. ' The 
persecutions and disorders which happened in the 
eastern church, soon after the beginning of the third 
century,' says Sale, 'obliged great numbers of 
Christians to seek for shelter in that country of 
liberty, who being for the most part of the Jacobite 
communion, that sect generally prevailed among the 
Arabs. The principal tribes that embraced Christi- 
anity, were, Hamyar, Ghassan, Rabia, Taghlab, Bah- 
rah, Tonouch, part of the tribes of Tay and Koddaah 
the inhabitants of Najran, (Nedjeraun), and the Arabs 

of Heirah The Jacobites had two bishops subject 

to their mafrian, or metropolitan of the East: one 
was called the bishop of the Arabs absolutely, whose 
seat was for the most part at Akula;f the other had 
the title of the Bishop of the Scenite Arabs, of the 
tribe of Thaaleb, in Hira, whose seat was in that 
city. The Nestorians had but one bishop, who pre- 
sided over both these dioceses of Hira and Akula, and 
was immediately subject to their patriarch.' What- 
ever place be meant by Akula, the see was evidently 

* The Abu Kabrs, King of Heirah, referred to by Sale, 
as having embraced Christianity, was slain only a few months 
before Mohammed's birth, after a reign of four years. His 
lather, the famous Al Mondar (Munzer III,) who is stated to 
have professed the same faith, and to have built large churches 
in his capital, was the lieutenant of Noushirvan 

t Abulfaragius makes Akula to be Kfifah; others make it a 
different town near Bagdad. — See Sale. 

vol. I. 5 



50 ARABIA, 

in Arabian Irak; and that of Heirah could only in- 
clude the western shore of the Persian Gulf. Thus r 
in fact, the larger part of the peninsula does not 
appear to have been under the ecclesiastical rule of 
either Jacobite or Nestorian bishop. # How is it that 
we do not read of a bishop of Saba or of Saana, of 
Mascat or of Mekka? A bishop of Tephra, which 
Sale supposes to be Dhafar, is mentioned as disputing 
with the Jews of Hamyar; and Nedjeraun is also 
said to have been an episcopal see. These bishops 
we presume to have been of the orthodox communion, 
if they existed; but Gregentius, bishop of Tephra, 
might be a foreigner, possibly an Abyssinian prelate. 
At all events, it is admitted that the state of the 
eastern churches, more especially of the Arabian, were 
in a deplorable state of declension and ignorance when 
the Koreishite impostor first conceived the bold pro- 
ject of uniting the jarring creeds of Jew, Christian, 
and Magian, in a new religion adapted to the clime 
and to the people. e If,' says Sale, ' we look into the 
ecclesiastical historians even from the third century, 
we shall find the Christian world to have then had a 
very different aspect from what some authors have re- 
presented; and so far from being endued with active 
grace, zeal, and devotion, and established within itself 
with purity of doctrine, union, and firm profession of 
the faith, — that, on the contrary, what by the ambi- 
tion of the clergy, and what by drawing the abstrusest 
niceties into controversy, and dividing and subdivid- 
ing about them into endless schisms and contentions, 
they had so destroyed that peace, love, and charity 
from among them, which the Gospel was given to 

* Gibbon says, ' The sects whom they (the Catholics) op- 
pressed, successively retired beyond the limits of the Roman 
empire. The Marcionites and Manicheans dispersed their 
fantastic opinions and apocryphal gospels; the churches of 
Yemen, and the princes of Hira and Ghassan were instructed 
in the purer creed of the Jacobite and Nestorian bishops." 



ARABIA. 51 

promote, and, instead thereof, continually provoked 
each other to that malice, rancour, and every evil 
work, that they had lost the whole substance of their 
religion, while they thus eagerly contended for their 
own imaginations concerning it; and in a manner 
quite drove Christianity out of the world, by those 
very controversies in which they disputed with each 
other about it. In these dark ages it was, that most 
of those superstitions and corruptions we now justly 
abhor in the church of Rome, were not only broached, 
but established, which gave great advantages to the 
propagation of Mohammedism. The worship of saints 
and images, in particular, was then arrived at such a 
scandalous pitch, that it even surpassed whatever is 
now practised among the Romanists. 

'After the Nicene council, the eastern church 
was engaged in perpetual controversies, and torn to 
pieces by the disputes of the Arians, Sabellians, Nes- 
torians, and Eutychians; the heresies of the two last 
of which have been shown to have consisted more in 
the words and form of expression than in the doc- 
trines themselves, and were rather the pretences than 
real motives of those frequent councils, to and from 
which the contentious prelates were continually riding 
post, that they might bring every thing to their own 
will and pleasure. And to support themselves by 
dependants and bribery, the clergy in any credit at 
court undertook the protection of some officer in the 
army, under the colour of which justice was publicly 
sold, and all corruption encouraged. 

' In the western church, Damasus and Ursicinus 
carried their contests at Rome for the "episcopal seat 
so high, that they came to open violence and murder, 
which Viventius the governor not being able to sup- 
press, he retired into the country, and left them to 
themselves, till Damasus prevailed. It is said, that 
on this occasion, in the church of Sicinius, there were 
no less than 137 found killed in one day. And no 



52 ARABIA. 

wonder they were so fond of these seats, when they 
became by that means enriched by the presents of 
matrons, and went abroad in their chariots and sedans 
in great state, feasting sumptuously even beyond the 
luxury of princes, quite contrary to the way of living 
of the country prelates, who alone seemed to have some 
temperance and modesty left. 

1 These dissensions were greatly owing to the em- 
perors, and particularly to Constantius, who, con- 
founding the pure and simple Christian religion with 
anile superstitions, and perplexing it with intricate 
questions, instead of reconciling different opinions, 
excited many disputes, which he fomented as they 
proceeded with infinite altercations. This grew worse 
in the time of Justinian, who, not to be behind the 
bishops of the fifth and sixth centuries in zeal, thought 
it no crime to condemn to death a man of a different 
persuasion from his own. 

c This corruption of doctrine and morals in the 
princes and clergy,' was necessarily followed by a 
general depravity of the people; those of all condi- 
tions making it their sole business to get money by 
any means, and then to squander it away, when they 
had got it, in luxury and debauchery. 

c But, to be more particular as to the nation we are 
now writing of, Arabia was of old famous for heresies, 
which might be in some measure attributed to the 
liberty and independency of the tribes. Some of the 
Christians of that nation believed the soul died with the 
body, and was to be raised again with it at the last day: 
these, Origen is said to have convinced. Among the 
Arabs it was that the heresies of Ebion, Beryllus, and 
the Nazarseans, and also that of the Collyridians, were 
broached, or at least propagated: the latter introduced 
the Virgin Mary for God, or worshipped her as such, 
offering her a sort of twisted cake called collyris, 
whence the sect had its name. 

' Other sects there were of many denominations 



ARABIA. 53 

within the borders of Arabia, which took refuge there 
from [the proscriptions of the imperial edicts, several 
of whose notions Mohammed incorporated with his 
religion.' 

The posture of public affairs, both in the eastern 
and the western empires, was in the highest degree 
favourable to the success of this daring enterprise. 
e If,' continues Sale, 'the distracted state of religion 
favoured the designs of Mohammed on that side, the 
weakness of the Roman and Persian monarchies 
might flatter him with no less hopes in any attempt 
on those once formidable empires, either of which, 
had they been in their full vigour, must have crushed 
Mohammedism in its birth; whereas nothing nourished 
it more than the success the Arabians met with in 
their enterprises against those powers, which success 
they failed not to attribute to their new religion, and 
the Divine assistance thereof. 

: The Roman empire declined apace after Con- 
stantine, whose successors were for the generality 
remarkable for their ill qualities, especially cowardice 
and cruelty. By Mohammed's time, the western 
half of the empire was overrun by the Goths; and 
the eastern so reduced by the Huns on the one 'side 
and the Persians on the other, that it was not in 
a -capacity of stemming the violence of a powerful 
invasion. The emperor Maurice paid tribute to the 
Khagan, or King of the Huns; and after Phocas had 
murdered his master, such lamentable havoc there 
was among the soldiers, that, when Heraclius came, 
not above seven years after, to muster the army' 
there were only two soldiers left alive, of all those 
who had borne arms when Phocas first usurped the 
empire. And though Heraclius was a prince of 
admirable courage and conduct, and had done what 
possibly could be done to restore the discipline of the 
army, and had had great success against the Per- 
sians, so as to drive them not only out of his own 
vol. i. 5* 



54 ARABIA. 

dominions, but even out of part of their own; yet 
still, the very vitals of the empire seemed to be mor- 
tally wounded; that there could no time have hap- 
pened more fatal to the empire, or more favourable to 
the enterprises of the Arabs, who seem to have been 
raised up on purpose by God, to be a scourge to 
the Christian church, for not living answerably to 
that most holy religion which they had received. 
The general luxury and degeneracy of manners into 
which the Grecians were sunk, also contributed not a 
little to the enervating of their forces, which were still 
further drained by those two great destroyers, mona- 
chism and persecution. 

' The Persians had also been in a declining condi- 
tion for some time before Mohammed, occasioned 
chiefly by their intestine broils and dissensions; great 
part of which arose from the devilish doctrines of 
Manes and Mazdak. The opinions of the former are 
tolerably well known: the latter lived in the reign of 
Khosru Kobad, and pretended himself a prophet sent 
from God to preach a community of women and pos- 
sessions, since all men were brothers, and descended 
from the same common parents. This, he imagined, 
would put an end to all feuds and quarrels among 
men, which generally arise on account of one of the 
two. Kobad himself embraced the opinions of this 
impostor, to whom he gave leave, according to his 
new doctrine, to lie with the queen his wife; which 
permission, Anushirwan, his son, with much difficulty 
prevailed on Mazdak not to make use of. These 
sects had certainly been the immediate ruin of the 
Persian empire, had not Anushirwan, as soon as he 
succeeded his father, put Mazdak to death with all 
his followers, and the Manicheans also, restoring the 
ancient Magian religion. 

6 In the reign of this prince, deservedly surnamed 
the Just, Mohammed was born. He was the last 
king of Persia who deserved the throne, which, after 



ARABIA. 55 

him, was almost perpetually contended for, till sub- 
verted by the Arabs. His son Hormuz lost the love 
of his subjects by his excessive cruelty: having had 
his eyes put out by his wife's brothers, he was obliged 
to resign the crown to his son Khosru Parviz, who, 
at the instigation of Bahram Chubin, had rebelled 
against him, and was afterwards strangled. Parviz 
was soon obliged to quit the throne to Bahram; but 
obtaining succours of the Greek emperor Maurice, he 
recovered the crown: yet, towards the latter end of a 
long reign, he grew so tyrannical and hateful to his 
subjects, that they held private correspondence with 
the Arabs; and he was at length deposed, imprisoned, 
and slain by his son Shiruyeh. After Parviz, no fewer 
than six princes possessed the throne in less than six 
years. These domestic broils effectually brought ruin 
upon the Persians ; for, though they did, rather 
by the weakness of the Greeks than their own force, 
ravage Syria, and sack Jerusalem and Damascus under 
Khosru Parviz; and, while the Arabs were divided 
and independent, had some power in the province 
of Yaman, where they set up the last four kings 
before Mohammed ; yet, when attacked by the Greeks 
under Heraclius, they not only lost their new conquests, 
but part of their own dominions; and no sooner were 
the Arabs united by Mohammeclism, than they beat 
them in every battle, and in a few years totally sub- 
dued them. 

c As these empires were weak and declining, so 
Arabia, at Mohammed's setting up, was strong and 
flourishing; having been peopled at the expense 'of 
the Grecian, empire, whence the violent proceedings 
of the domineering sects forced many to seek refuge 
in a free country, as Arabia then was, where they 
who could not enjoy tranquillity and their conscience 
at home, found a secure retreat. The Arabians were 
not only a populous nation, but unacquainted with 
the luxury and delicacies of the Greeks and Persians, 



56 ARABIA. 

and inured to hardships of all sorts; living in a most 
parsimonious manner, seldom eating any flesh, drink- 
ing no wine, and sitting on the ground. Their 
political government was also such as favoured the 
designs of Mohammed; for the division and indepen- 
dency of their tribes were so necessary to the first 
propagation of his religion and the foundation of his 
power, that it would have been scarce possible for 
him to have effected either, had the Arabs been 
united in one society. But when they had embraced 
his religion, the consequent union of their tribes was 
no less necessary and conducive to their future con- 
quests and grandeur.' 

The tribe of Koreish has already been referred to 
as one of the most distinguished in Arabia. As the 
hereditary guardians of the Kaaba, their princes en- 
joyed a species of pontifical supremacy. Haschem, 
the great-grandfather of Mohammed, at the com- 
mencement of the sixth century, raised the city under 
his government to a state of activity and opulence, by 
the establishment of two annual caravans, one for 
Syria, and the other for Yemen. His son, Abd- 
ul-Motalleb (or Abdulmutleb), had the glory of de- 
feating Abrahah, the Abyssinian usurper, and of 
delivering Mekka from the African invaders. Of 
the numerous progeny with which his domestic happi- 
ness was crowned, Abdallah was the youngest, who 
dying soon after his marriage with Ameinah, the 
mother of Mohammed, left his widow and infant son 
but slenderly provided for. On the division of his 
inheritance, the share of the future lord of Arabia 
consisted only of five camels and one Ethiopian slave. 

Mohammed (pronounced Muhammed), the only 
son of Abdallah and Ameinah, was born at Mekka, 
A. D. 569, four years after the death of Justinian, 
and in the fortieth of the reign of Noushirvan, 
In his sixth year he lost his mother, and, when 
he had attained his eighth year, his grandfather 



ARABIA. 57 

Abdulmutleb, who, with his dying breath, consigned 
him to the care of his uncle Abu Taleb, the pontifical 
head of the tribe. By this/ royal merchant,' youno- 
Mohammed was instructed in the arts of v/ar and 
merchandise: he accompanied him to the fairs of 
Syria, and fought with him in the conflicts between 
the Arabian tribes. In his twenty-fifth year, he 
obtained the office of factor to Kadijah, the widow of 
a wealthy trader, who soon rewarded his fidelity with 
the gift of her hand and fortune; and by this fortu- 
nate step, the son of Abdallah was at once raised 
to an equality with the proudest merchants of 
Mekka. 

The youth of Mohammed is said to have been 
marked by the seriousness of his deportment, and his 
strict attention to devotional exercises. Of what 
nature these were, Jewish, Christian, or Pagan, does 
not appear. His family were idolaters. • It was not ? 
however, till he had attained his fortieth year, the 
last fifteen of which he had lived in ease and indepen- 
dence, that he announced his prophetic mission. How 
these fifteen years of preparation were passed, at 
what period he first conceived the ambitious or fana- 
tical project, and how he obtained the knowledge dis- 
played in the Koran, are matter of mere conjecture. 
All that we are told is, that once every year, in the 
month of Ramadan, he retired for the purposes of 
fasting, prayer, and meditation, to a cave in Mount 
Hara, near Mekka, and that by this periodical seclu- 
sion, as well as by his charity and frugality, he 
obtained a high name for sanctity among his fellow- 
citizens. Gibbon styles him an illiterate barbarian, 
and refers to the Koran in proof that he could neither 
read nor rite. With all the credulity of a sceptic, 
he seems to attribute, nevertheless, to Mohammed's 
unassisted genius, the whole composition of the 
Koran; and though the Historian was unable to read 
a page of the original, he adduces the uniformity 



58 v ARABIA. 

of the work as a proof of its being the composition of 
a single artist ! Illiterate Mohammed might be, 
although the use he makes of his ignorance, real 
or affected, in the Koran, to prove the reality of the 
revelations it contains, tends to bring into suspicion 
his own declarations on this subject. But whether he 
could himself read or not, is a matter of little conse- 
quence: he had evidently access through some indi- 
rect medium to both the canonical and the apocryphal 
scriptures. He seems to have had some obscure in- 
formation with regard to the promise of the Para- 
clete;* and it may be worth remark, that the name 
by which he designates the apostles of Jesus (JLl Hd- 
wariyan) is not Arabic, but Ethiopic.| The charge 
that he was assisted in the composition, he himself 
notices in a way that shows a particular individual 
was suspected, and that individual a foreigner. l We 
also know that they say, Verily, a certain man teach- 
eth him to compose the Koran. The tongue of the 
person unto whom they incline, is a foreign tongue ; but 
this, wherein the Koran is written, is the perspicuous 
Arabic tongue.' The variation of the traditions as 
to who was the suspected individual here alluded 
to, proves only that he had more than one likely con- 
federate among his Jewish, Persian, and Christian 
associates.^ . The second person to whom he entrusted 

* See Sale's Koran, chap. Ixi. The Persian paraphrast on 
the passage referred to, cites in explanation John xvi, 7; but 
this misapplication is founded on a blunder, Paracletos, a com- 
forter, being confounded with Periclutos, very celebrated, 
which is the meaning both of Mohammed and Ahmed. Gib- 
bon remarks that, this promise had already been usurped by 
the Montanists and Manicheans, which may possibly indicate 
the source of Mohammed's information. 

t See Sale's Koran, chap, in, notes. 

% Dr Prideaux, in his Life of Mohammed, cites several autho- 
rities in support of his opinion, that the person alluded to in 
the Koran, as suspected of assisting Mohammed, was Abdia 
Ben Salon, or Abdallah Ebn Salam, a Persian Jew, ' a cun- 



ARABIA. 59 

the secret of his mission, was the cousin of his wife 
Kadijah, Warrakah Ebn Nawfal, c who being a 
Christian, could write in the Hebrew character, and 
was tolerably well versed in the Scriptures; and he as 
readily came into her opinion, assuring her that the 
same angel who had formerly appeared to Moses, was 
now sent to Mohammed.'* It is singular, that this 
person is not noticed among the different individuals 
to whom the suspicions attached. f 

i Encouraged by so good a beginning,' says Sale, 
c he resolved to proceed, and try for some time what 
he could do by private persuasion, not daring to 
hazard the whole affair by exposing it too suddenly to 
the public. He soon made proselytes of those under 
his own roof, viz, his wife Khadijah, his servant Zeid 
Ebn Haretha (to whom he gave his freedom on that 
occasion, which afterwards became a rule to his fol- 
lowers), and his cousin and pupil Ali, the son of Abu 
Taleb, though then very young: but this last, making 
no account of the other two, used to style himself the 
first of believers. The next person Mohammed applied 
to, was Abdallah Ebn Abi Kohfifa, surnamed Abu 
Beer, a man of great authority among the Koreish, 
and one whose interest he well knew would be of 

ning, crafty fellow, so thoroughly skilled in all the learning of 
the Jews, that he had commenced rabbi among them.' It was 
he who, by his skill in drawing an intrenchment at the < bat- 
tle of the ditch,' saved Mohammed and all his army. Sale 
however states, that Salman the Persian was a different man from 
Abdallah Ebn Salam. (Koran, chap, xvi, note.) Johannes 
Andreas, a doctor of the Mohammedan law, who turned Chris- 
tian, is among others cited by Prideaux, as affirming that this 
learned Jew < was, for ten years together, the person by whose 
hand all the pretended revelations of the Impostor were first 
written, and, therefore, no doubt he was a principal contriver 
in the forging of them.' And Sale, in his Preliminary Disser- 
tation, though he frequently exposes Prideaux's inaccuracies, 
admits that he has given the most probable account of this mat- 
ter. 

* Sale, Prelim. Diss. \ 2. t Sales's Koran, chap, xvi, notes. 



60 ARABIA. 

great service to him, as it soon appeared; for Abu 
Beer being gained over, prevailed also on Othman 
Ebn Affan, Abd'alrahman Ebn Awf, Saad Ebn Abi 
Wakkas, al Zobeir Ebn al Awara, and Telha Ebn 
Obeid'allah, all principal men in Mecca, to follow his 
example. These men were the six chief companions 
who, with a few more, were converted in the space of 
three years; at the end of which Mohammed having, 
as he hoped, a sufficient interest to support him, 
made his mission no longer a secret, but gave out 
that God had commanded him to admonish his near 
relations; and, in order to do it with more con- 
venience and prospect of success, he directed Ali to 
prepare an entertainment, and invite the sons and 
descendants of Abd'almotalleb, intending then to open 
his mind to them; this was done, and about forty of 
them came; but Abu Laheb, one of his uncles, making 
the company break up before Mohammed had an 
opportunity of speaking, obliged him to give them 
a second invitation the next day; and when they 
were come, he made them the following speech: ' I 
know no man in ali Arabia who can offer his kindred 
a more excellent thing than I now do you; I offer 
you happiness both in this life and that which is 
to come: God Almighty hath commanded me to call 
you unto him; who, therefore, among you will 
be assisting to me herein, and become my brother 
and my vicegerent ?' All of them hesitating and 
declining the matter, Ali at length rose up, and 
declared that he would be his assistant; and vehe- 
mently threatened those who should oppose him. 
Mohammed upon this embraced Ali with great 
demonstrations of affection, and desired all who were 
present to hearken to and to obey him as his deputy: 
at which the company broke out into great laughter, 
telling Abu Taleb that he must now pay obedience to 
his son. 

' This repulse, however, was so far from dis- 



ARABIA. 61 

couraging Mohammed, that he began to preach in 
public to the people, who heard him with some 
patience, till he came to upbraid them with the 
idolatry, obstinacy, and perverseness of themselves 
and their fathers; which so highly provoked them, 
that they declared themselves his enemies, and would 
soon have procured his ruin, had he not been pro- 
tected by Abu Taleb. The chief of the Koreish 
warmly solicited this person to desert his nephew, 
making frequent remonstrances against the innova- 
tions he was attempting; which proving ineffectual, 
they at length threatened him with an open rupture 
if he did not prevail on Mohammed to desist. At 
this Abu Taleb was so far moved, that he earnestly 
dissuaded his nephew from pursuing the affair any 
further, representing the great danger he and his 
friends must otherwise run. But Mohammed was 
not to be intimidated, telling his uncle plainly, that 
if they set the sun against him on his right hand, 
and the moon on his left, he would not leave his 
enterprise: and Abu Taleb, seeing him so firmly 
resolved to proceed, used no further arguments, but 
promised to stand by him against all his enemies. 

i The Koreish rinding they could prevail neither 
by fair words nor menaces, tried what they could do 
by force and ill treatment, using Mohammed's fol- 
lowers so very injuriously, that it was not safe for 
them to continue at Mecca any longer ; whereupon 
Mohammed gave leave to such of them as had not 
friends to protect thern, to seek for refuge elsewhere. 
And, accordingly, in the fifth year of the prophet's 
mission, sixteen of them, four of whom were women, 
fled into Ethiopia ; and among them Othman Ebn 
AfFan and his wife Rakiah, Mohammed's daughter. 
This was the first flight ; but afterwards, several 
others followed them, retiring one after another, 
to the number of eighty-three men and eighteen 

VOL. I. 6 



62 ARABIA. 

women, besides children . These refugees were kindly 
received by the Najashi or Kirig of Ethiopia, who 
refused to deliver them up to those whom the Koreish 
sent to demand them, and, as the Arab writers 
unanimously attest, even professed the Mohamme- 
dan religion. 

' In the sixth year of his mission, Mohammed had 
the pleasure of seeing his party strengthened by the 
conversion of his uncle Hamza, a man of great valour 
and merit, and of Omar Ebn al Khattab, a person 
highly esteemed, and once a violent opposer of the 
Prophet. As persecution generally advances rather 
than obstructs the spreading of a religion, Islamism 
made so great a progress among the Arab tribes, that 
the Koreish, to suppress it effectually, if possible, in 
the seventh year of Mohammed's mission, made a 
solemn league or covenant against the Hashemites 
and the family of Al Motalleb, engaging themselves 
to contract no marriages with any of them, and to 
have no communication with them ; and to give it 
the greater sanction, reduced it into writing, and laid 
it up in the Caaba. Upon this, the tribe became 
divided into two factions; and the family of Hashem 
all repaired to Abu Taleb, as their head, except only 
Abd'al Uzza, surnamed Abu Laheb, who, out of his 
.inveterate hatred to his nephew and his doctrine, 
went over to the opposite party, whose chief was 
Abu Sofian Ebn Harb, of the family of Ommeya. 

' The families continued thus at variance for three 
years ; but, in the tenth year of his mission, Mo- 
hammed told his uncle Abu Taleb, that God had 
manifestly showed his disapprobation of the league 
which the Koreish had made against them, by send- 
ing a worm to eat out every word of the instrument 
except the name of God. Of this accident Moham- 
med had probably some private notice, for Abu Taleb- 
went immediately to the Koreish, and acquainted 
them with it, offering, if it proved false, to deliver 



ARABIA. 63 

his nephew up to them; but, in case it were true, he 
insisted that they ought to lay aside their animosity, 
and annul the league they had made against the 
Hashemites. To this they acquiesced, and, going to 
inspect the writing, to their great astonishment found 
it to be as Abu Taleb had said; and the league was 
thereupon declared void. 

1 In the same year Abu Taleb died, at the age of 
above forescore; and it is the general opinion that 
he died an infidel, though others say, that when 
he was at the point of death he embraced Moham- 
medism, and produce some passages out of his poetical 
compositions to confirm their assertion. About a 
month, or, as some write, three days after the death 
of this great benefactor and patron, Mohammed had 
the additional mortification to lose his wife Khadrjah, 
who had so generously made his fortune. For which 
reason this year is called the year of mourning. 

1 On the death of these two persons, the Koreish 
began to be more troublesome than ever to their pro- 
phet, and especially some who had formerly been his 
intimate friends; insomuch that he found himself 
obliged to seek for shelter elsewhere, and first pitched 
upon Tayef, about sixty miles east from Mecca, for 
the place of his retreat. Thither therefore he went, 
accompanied by his servant Zeid, and applied himself 
to two of the chief of the tribe of Thakif, who were 
the inhabitants of that place, but they received him 
very coldly. However, he stayed there a month; 
and some of the more considerate and better sort of 
men treated him with a little respect; but the slaves 
and inferior people at length rose against him, and 
bringing him to the wall of the city, obliged him to 
depart, and return to Mecca } where he put himseif 
under the protection of al Motaam Ebn Adi. 

' This repulse greatly discouraged his followers : 
however, Mohammed was not wanting to himself, 
but boldly continued to preach to the public assem- 



64 ARABIA. 

blies at the pilgrimage, and gained several proselytes, 
and among them six of the inhabitants of Yathreb of 
the Jewish tribe of Khazraj, who, on their return 
home, failed not to speak much in commendation of 
their new religion, and exhorted their fellow-citizens 
to embrace the same. 

c In the twelfth year of his mission it was that 
Mohammed gave out that he had made his night 
journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to 
heaven, so much spoken of by all that write of him. 
Dr Prideaux thinks he invented it either to answer 
the expectations of those who demanded some miracle 
as a proof of his mission ; or else, by pretending to 
have conversed with God, to establish the authority 
of whatever he should think fit to leave behind by 
way of oral tradition, and make his sayings to serve 
the same purpose as the oral law of the Jews. But 
I do not find that Mohammed himself ever expected 
so great a regard should be paid to his sayings as 
his followers have since done: and seeing he all 
along disclaimed any power of performing miracles, 
it seems rather to have been a fetch of policy to raise 
his reputation, by pretending to have actually con- 
versed with God in heaven, as Moses had heretofore 
on the mount, and to have received several insti- 
tutions immediately from him, whereas before he 
contented himself with persuading them that he had 
all by the ministry of Gabriel. 

' However, this story seemed so absurd and in- 
credible that several of his followers left him upon 
it, and it had probably ruined the whole design, had 
not Abu Beer vouched for its veracity, and declared 
that if Mohammed affirmed it to be true, he verily 
believed the whole. Which happy incident not only 
retrieved the prophet's credit, but increased it to 
such a degree, that he was secure of being able to 
make his disciples swallow whatever he pleased to 
impose on them for the future. And I am apt to 



ARABIA. 6 ° 



think this fiction, notwithstanding its extravagance, 
was one of the most artful contrivances Mohammed 
ever put in practice, and what chiefly contributed to 
the raising of his reputation to that great height to 
which it afterwards arrived. 

<■ In this year, called by the Mohammedans the 
accepted year, twelve men of Yathreb or Medina, of 
whom ten were of the tribe of Khazraj, and the other 
two of that of Aws, came to Mecca, and took an oath 
of fidelity to Mohammed at al Akaba, a hill on the 
north of that city. This oath was called the wo- 
men's oath; not that any women were present at this 
time, but because a man was not thereby obliged to 
take up arms in defence of Mohammed or his reh- 
o-ion; it being the same oath that was afterwards 
exacted of the women, the form of which we have in 
the Koran, and is to this effect, viz, < That they 
should renounce all idolatry; that they should not 
steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their children, 
(as the pagan Arabs used to do when they appre- 
hended they should not be able to maintain them,) 
nor forge calumnies; and that they should obey the 
prophet in all things that were reasonable.' When 
they had solemnly engaged to do all this, Mohammed 
sent one of his disciples, named Masab Ebn Omair, 
home with them, to instruct them more fully in the 
grounds and ceremonies of his new religion. 

' Maslb being arrived at Medina, by the assist- 
ance of those who had been formerly converted, gained 
several proselytes, particularly Osaid Ebn Hodeira, a 
chief man of the city, and Saad Ebn Moadh, prmce 
of the tribe of Aws; Mohammedism spreading so 
fast, that there was scarcely a house wherein there 
were not some who had embraced it. 

< The next year, being the thirteenth of Moham- 
med's mission, Masab returned to Mecca, accom- 
panied by seventy-three men and two women of 
Medina, who had professed Islamism, besides some 

vol. i. 6* 



66 ARABIA. 

others who were as yet unbelievers. On their 
arrival, they immediately sent to Mohammed, and 
offered him their assistance, of which he was now in 
great need, for his adversaries were by this time 
grown so powerful in Mecca, that he could not stay 
there much longer without imminent danger. Where- 
fore he accepted their proposal, and met them one 
night, by appointment, at al Akaba above mentioned, 
attended by his uncle al Abbas, who, though he was 
not then a believer, wished his nephew well, and 
made a speech to those of Medina wherein he told 
them, that as - Mohammed was obliged to quit his 
native city, and seek an asylum elsewhere, and they 
had offered him their protection, they would do well 
not to deceive him; and that if they were not firmly 
resolved to defend and not betray him, they had 
better declare their minds, and let him provide for 
his safety in some other manner. Upon their pro- 
testing their sincerity, Mohammed swore to be faith- 
ful to them; on condition that they should protect 
him against all insults, as heartily as they would 
their own wives and families. They then asked him 
what recompense they were to expect, if they should 
happen to be killed in his quarrel: he answered, 
paradise. Whereupon they pledged their faith to him, 
and so returned home, after Mohammed had chosen 
twelve out of their number, who were to have the 
same authority among them as the twelve apostles of 
Christ had among his disciples. 

c Hitherto Mohammed had propagated his religion 
by fair means, so that the whole success of his enter- 
prise before his flight to Medina, must be attributed 
to persuasion only, and not to compulsion. For, 
before this second oath of fealty or inauguration at al 
Akaba, he had no permission to use any force at all; 
and in several places of the Koran, which he pre- 
tended were revealed during his stay at Mecca, he 
declares his business was only to preach and ad- 



ARABIA. 67 

monish; that he had no authority to compel anv 
person to embrace his religion; and that whether 
people believed, or not, was none of his concern, but 
belonged solely unto God. And he was so far from 
allowing his followers to use force, that he exhorted 
them to bear patiently those injuries which were 
offered them on account of their faith ; and when 
persecuted himself, he chose rather to quit the place 
of his birth and retire to Medina, than to make any 
resistance. But this great passiveness and modera- 
tion seems entirely owing to his want of power, and 
the great superiority of his opposers for the first 
twelve years of his mission ; for no sooner was he 
enabled, by the assistance of those of Medina, to 
make head against his enemies, than he gave out, 
that God had allowed him and his followers to de- 
fend themselves against the infidels ; and at length, 
as his forces increased, he pretended to have the 
Divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy 
idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword ; 
finding, by experience, that his designs would other- 
wise proceed very slowly, if they were not utterly 
overthrown ; and knowing, on the other hand, that 
innovators, when they depend solely on their own 
strength, and can compel, seldom run any risk ; 
from whence, the politician observes, it follows, that 
all the armed prophets have succeeded, and the un- 
armed ones have failed. Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, 
and Romulus would not have been able to establish 
the observance of their institutions for any length of 
time, had they not been armed. The first passage 
of the Koran which gave Mohammed the permission 
of defending himself by arms, is said to have been 
that in the twenty-second chapter ; alter which, a 
great number to the same purpose were revealed. 

c That Mohammed had a right to take up arms for 
his own defence against his unjust persecutors, may 
perhaps be allowed; but whether he ought after- 



68 



ARABIA. 



wards to have made use of that means for the esta- 
blishing of his religion, is a question J will not here 
determine. How far the secular power may or ought, 
to interpose in affairs of this nature, mankind are 
not agreed. The method of converting by the sword, 
gives no very favorable idea of the faith which is so 
propagated, and is disallowed by every body in those 
of another religion, though the same persons are 
willino- to admit of it for the advancement ot their 
own; "supposing, that though a false religion ought 
not to be established by authority, yet a true one may; 
and accordingly, force is almost, as constantly employed 
in these cases by those who have the power in their 
hands, as it is constantly complained of by those who 
suffer the violence. It is certainly one of the most 
convincing proofs that Mohammedism was no other 
than a human invention, that it owed its progress 
and establishment almost entirely to the sword ; and 
it is one of the strongest demonstrations ot the 
Divine original of Christianity, that it P revalled 
against all the force and powers of the world by the 
mere dint of its own truth, after having stood th e 
assaults of all manner of persecutions, as well as other 
oppositions, for three hundred years together, and at 
length made the Roman emperors themselves submit 
thereto ; after which time indeed this proof seems to 
fail, Christianity being then established, and paganism 
abolished by public authority, which has had great 
influence in the propagation of the one, and destruc- 
tion of the other, ever since. But to return. 

« Mohammed having provided for the security ot 
his companions as well as his own, by the league 
offensive and defensive which he had now concluded 
with those of Medina, directed them to repair thither, 
which they accordingly did ; but himself, with Aou 
Beer and Ali, staid^hehind, having not yet received 
the Divine permission, as he pretended, to leave 
Mecca. The Koreish, fearing the consequence ot this 



ARABIA. 69 

new alliance, began to think it absolutely necessary 
to prevent Mohammed's escape to Medina, and having 
held a council thereon, after several milder expedients 
had been rejected, they came to a resolution that he 
should be killed ; and they agreed that a man should 
be chosen out of every tribe for the execution of this 
design, and that each man should have a blow at him 
with his sword, that the guilt of his blood might fall 
equally on all the tribes, to whose united power the 
Hashemites were much inferior, and therefore durst 
not attempt to revenge their kinsman's death.' 

By some means or other, this conspiracy came to 
Mohammed's knowledge, and he contrived to with- 
draw with Abubeker and two attendants to a cave in 
Mount Thiir, to the S.E. of Mekka, where he lay 
hid for three days, and by this means baffled the pur- 
suit of the conspirators.* At length, he effected his 
escape to Medinah, where he soon found himself strong 
enough to make reprisals on the Koreishites. ' But 
what established his affairs very much, and was the 
foundation on which he built all his succeeding great- 
ness, was the gaining of the battle of Beder, in the 
second year of the Hejira.' We must refer to Gib- 
bon's florid paragraphs for the details of this famous 
victory, and the more doubtful combat which ensued, 
in which the prophet was wounded in the face. A 
third time the Koreish appeared before the walls of 
Medinah, with an army of 10,000 men; but Moham- 
med had strongly entrenched himself, by the aid, 
as it is said, of Salman the Persian ; and after the 
siege had been protracted for twenty days, quarrels 

* We have preferred Sale's circumstantial and homely nar- 
rative to Gibbon's more highly embellished account. At the 
close of each evening, it is added, they received from the son 
and daughter of Abubeker, a secret supply of intelligence and 
food. ' We are only two,' said the trembling Abubeker. 
c There is a third,' replied the prophet; ' it is God himself,' 



70 ARABIA. 

broke out among the auxiliaries, which, together 
with a violent tempest, led to the breaking up and 
dispersion of the assailant army : the Koreish, de- 
serted by their allies, found themselves unable to 
maintain the contest with their invincible exile. 

From his establishment at Medinah, Mohammed 
assumed the exercise of the regal and pontifical func- 
tions. Having purchased a small portion of ground, 
he built a house and mosque, where, with his back 
against a palm-tree, and afterwards in a rough, 
unadorned pulpit, he declaimed in the weekly assembly 
against the idolatry of his nation. In the sixth year 
of the Hejira, he set out with fourteen hundred men, 
but with the most peaceable professions, to visit the 
temple of Mekka; but, when he reached the limits of 
the sacred territory, the Koreish sent him word, that 
they would not permit him to enter Mekka. On this, 
he had resolved to attack the city, when a second 
embassy arrived at the camp with proposals for a ten 
years' truce.* One stipulation, however, on the 
part of Mohammed was, that he should be per- 
mitted to enter the city as a friend the following year, 
and remain there three days to accomplish the rites 
of the pilgrimage. Accordingly, the next year, the 
Koreish retired to the hills, while the pilgrims of 
Medinah performed the accustomed rites, and Moham- 
med kept his word by evacuating the city on the 
fourth day. The ambassador from Mekka, Sohail 
Ebn Amru, who concluded the treaty, is said to have 
reported, that he had seen the Chosroes of Persia, 
and the Csesar of Rome, but had never beheld any 

* The occasion of this peaceful embassy is said to have been 
this. « Fourscore of the infidels came privately to Moham- 
med's camp at al Hodeibiya, with an intent to surprise some 
of his men, but were taken and brought before the prophet, 
who pardoned them, and set them at liberty ; and this gene- 
rous action was the occasion of the truce struck up by the 
Koreish with Mohammed.' — Sale's Koran, chap xlviii. 



ARABIA. 71 

prince among his subjects so highly venerated as Mo- 
hammed was among his companions ; for, when he 
made his ablutions, they ran and caught the water, 
they collected his very spittle, and treasured up every 
hair that fell from him with abject superstition. To 
make amends to his followers for the failure of this 
first expedition against Mekka, about a month after 
his return to Medinah, he led some of his followers 
against the Jews of Khaibar. He appears already to 
have found out, that an Arab soldiery could be 
attached to his cause only by the hope of plunder. 
Gibbon remarks, that his choice of Jerusalem for the 
first kebia of prayer, discovers his early predilection 
for the Jews ; but their obstinate opposition converted 
his friendship into implacable hatred. The tribe of 
Kainoka who dwelt at Medinah, first felt his power. 
On the occasion of an accidental tumult, they were 
expelled the city, after an obstinate contest, and i a 
wretched colony of 700 exiles, with their wives and 
children, were driven to implore a refuge on the con- 
fines of Syria.' The Nadhirites having conspired to 
assassinate the prophet in a friendly interview, he 
laid siege to their castle, distant three miles from 
Medinah; hut their resolute defence obtained for them 
an honourable capitulation. The Koraidhites had 
excited and joined the war of the Koreish : the atro- 
cious vengeance taken on them by Mohammed is 
a dreadful stain upon his character. Seven hundred 
Jews were dragged in chains to the market-place 
of the city, and there massacred, their remains being 
ignominiously thrown into one common grave, and 
their sheep, camels, and arms were divided among 
the Moslems.* Khaibar, an ancient town six days' 

* Moslem, signifying a professor of Eslam, or Islamism, 
(i. e. the religion of Mohammed) makes Muselman in the 
dual, and Muselminn in the plural; but the legitimate plural in 
English is Moslems, though usage has sanctioned Muselmans. 



7& ARABIA, 

journey to the N.E. of Medinah,was the metropolis of 
the Arabian Jews, and its wealthy territory was pro- 
tected by eight castles. Mohammed took the field 
with 200 cavalry and 1,400 foot; the castles were 
successively ceded to the conqueror, and the inhabi- 
tants of Khaibar submitted to accept a precarious 
toleration, on the condition of an annual tribute of 
half their revenues. In the k'halifate of Omar, 
the Jews were totally banished from the Peninsula. 

In the seventh year from his flight, Mohammed 
began to entertain the hope of propagating his religion 
beyond the bounds of Arabia, and sent messengers to 
the neighbouring princes, to invite them to embrace 
the new faith. The Persian monarch, Khosru Par- 
viz, received the letter with high disdain, and tearing 
it in pieces, abruptly dismissed the envoy ; but the 
Emperor Heraclius, the Arabian historians assure us, 
received the communication at Emesa, in Syria, with 
great respect ; and Mokawkas, Governor of Egypt, 
sent back several valuable presents by the messenger, 
— among the rest, two young girls. As for the Ethio- 
pian monarch, he is said to have already been con- 
verted. Al Mondar Ibn Sawa, King of Bahhrein ? 
and Badhan, King of Yemen, embraced Moham- 
medism with all their subjects ; but the Christian 
king of Yamama returned a very rough answer; and 
Hareth, King of Ghassan, sent word that he would 
go to Mohammed himself. The Arabian messenger 
to the Governor of Bosra,* was slain by a Christian 
emir named Sherheil al Mutar, in the district of 
Belka, about three days r journey east of Jerusalem. 
Being tributaries of the Greek emperor, these Syrians 
are styled Grecians. To avenge this insult, Mo- 
Islam is said to mean devotion, or the total resignation of body 
and soul to God. 

* Bosra was the capital of the kingdom of Ghassan. Pos- 
sibly, this same Hareth is here referred to. 



ARABIA. 73 

hammed sent 3,000 Moslems to invade the Syrian 
territory; and in the battle of Mutah, the valour of 
the fanatics was first tried in an encounter with a 
foreign enemy. The Syro-Roman army being greatly- 
superior in numbers, the Arabians were repulsed in 
the first attack, and successively lost their three 
generals, Zeid Ebn Haretha, Mohammed's freedman 
Jaafar, the son of Abu Taleb, and Abdallah Ebn 
Rawaha. f Advance,' exclaimed Abdallah, as his 
predecessor fell, i victory or paradise is ours.' The 
lance of a Roman deprived him of the first; but the 
falling standard was rescued by Khaled Ebn al Walid, 
a proselyte of Mekka, and his valour sustained the 
conflict till flight closed upon the combatants. The 
next morning, his skilful evolutions struck a panic 
into the enemy, and secured, if not a victory, a safe 
retreat: the Mohammedan historians say, that Khaled 
returned to Meditfah with rich spoil. 

In this same year (the eighth) Mohammed gained 
pessession of his native city. The Koreish are ac- 
cused of having been the first to violate the truce;* 
but, however this may have been, the pretence was 
eagerly seized for invading their territory with an 
army 10,000 strong. Taken by surprise, the people 
of Mekka surrendered at discretion, and Abu Sofian 
the governor, saved his life by turning Moslem! 
The soldiers of the prophet were eager for plunder or 
for vengeance, and eight and twenty inhabitants 
perished by the sword of Khaled; but Mohammed 
blamed this act of cruelty, and pardoned all the 
Koreish on their submission,! except six men and 
four women; and of these, only three men and one 

* See Sale, Prel. Disc. § 2. 

t ' The chiefs of the Koreish were prostrate at his feet. 
" What mercy can you expect from the man whom you have 
wronged ? " « We confide in the generosity of our kinsman. ' ' 
" And you shall not confide in vain." ' — Gibbon. 

VOL. i. 7 



74 ARABIA. 

woman were actually put to death. Thus, c after an 
exile of seven years, the fugitive missionary was 
enthroned as the prince and prophet of his native 
country.' The three hundred and sixty idols of the 
Kaaba were now cast out and ignominiously broken, 
and the temple of Saturn, or Abraham, was changed 
from a pantheon into a sanctuary of Islam. The 
conquest of Mekka determined the faith and obe- 
dience of most of the Bedoween tribes; but an ob- 
stinate remnant still adhered to the paganism of their 
ancestors, and the Hanazanites and the citizens of 
Tayef made a powerful stand in the field of Honain. 
The victory was at first doubtful, and in the end 
sanguinary. Ultimately, the people of* Tayef sub- 
mitted to the demolition of their temples, and the 
same sentence of destruction was executed on all the 
idols of Arabia. c On the shores of the Red Sea, 
the Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, his lieutenants were 
saluted by the acclamations of a faithful people, and 
the ambassadors who knelt before the throne of 
Medinah,were as numerous, says the Arabian proverb, 
as the dates that fall from the maturity of a palm- 
tree. The nation submitted to the God and the 
sceptre of Mohammed; the opprobrious name of 
tribute was abolished; the spontaneous or reluctant 
oblation of tithes and alms were applied to the ser- 
vice of religion; and 114,000 Moslems accompanied 
the last pilgrimage of the apostle.' The kingdom or 
province of Yeraama alone, where a competitor for 
the prophetical or pontifical office had started up in 
Moseilama, presented an exception, during the last 
years of Mohammed, to the national uniformity: 
the schismatics were not reduced to obedience till the 
khalifate of Abubeker. In the full possession of 
power, the Arabian pontiff now projected the invasion 
of Syria, and actually proceeded, at the head of 
an army of 10,000 horse, 20,000 foot, and 12,000 
camels, as far as the grove and fountain of Tabouk, 



ARABIA. 75 

on the road to Damascus; but here, a council of war 
determined on the abandonment of the enterprise, 
owing, as it would seem, to the desertions which had 
taken place among the troops, in consequence of the 
intolerable heat of the season, and the want of skill 
or foresight in the commissariat department. But 
the terrors of his name produced the submission of 
the Syrian tribes, from Euphrates to the head of the 
Red Sea. 

Till the age of sixty-three years, the strength of 
Mohammed was equal to the fatigues of his twofold 
office; but, during the last four years, his health 
declined. He believed that he was poisoned at Khai- 
bar by a Jewish female. His mortal disease was a 
bilious fever of fourteen days, which deprived him at 
intervals of his reason. As soon as he was conscious 
of his danger, he enfranchised his slaves, and minutely 
directed the order of his funeral. Till the third day 
before his death, he performed the function of public 
prayer; and when he was so ill as to enter the 
mosque resting on the shoulders of his servants, he 
ordered his ancient and faithful friend Abubeker to 
read the service in his stead: but he prudently de- 
clined, except so far as this act might so be construed, 
to nominate his successor. One daughter alone, of 
all his children, survived him. To the last moment, 
he maintained the faith of an enthusiast, or supported 
the character of an impostor; he described the visits 
of Gabriel, who then bade an everlasting farewell to 
the earth, and expressed his lively confidence of the 
favour of the Almighty. In the agony of dissolu- 
tion, his head reclining on the lap of Ayesha, his 
favourite wife, he uttered the last broken but articu- 
late words, ' O God, pardon my sins. Ah! my 
companion, I attend thee to the realms above.' He 
was buried at Medinah, and the pilgrims to Mekka 
turn aside to pay their devotions at the simple tomb of 
their prophet. 



76 ARABIA. 

Sale, the Translator of the Koran, has made the 
best apology for the character of this extraordinary 
man. ' His original design of bringing the pagan 
Arabs to the knowledge of the true God, was cer- 
tainly,' he remarks, ' noble and highly to be com- 
mended. Mohammed was, no doubt, fully satisfied 
in his conscience of the truth of his grand point, the 
unity of God, which was what he chiefly attended to, 
all his other doctrines and institutions being acci- 
dental, rather than premeditated. The damage done 
to Christianity seems to have been owing to his 
ignorance, rather than to his malice; for his great 
misfortune was, his not having a competent know- 
ledge of the real and pure doctrines of the Christian 
religion, which was in his time so abominably cor- 
rupted, that it is not surprising if he went too far, 
and resolved to abolish what he might think incapable 
of reformation.' Till the age of forty, his character 
remained unblemished; and the solitary of Mount 
Hera would have died without a name. Gibbon 
remarks, that i from enthusiasm to imposture, the 
step is perilous and slippery, and the demon of 
Socrates affords a memorable instance how the con- 
science may slumber in a mixed and middle state 
between self-illusion and voluntary fraud.' It may 
be questioned whether this remark will bear the test 
of analysis. That enthusiasm, at least, which has 
truth for its object, and faith for its source, is in- 
capable of alliance with fraud, although a man may 
begin an enthusiast, and end an impostor. It may be 
doubted, however, whether Mohammed can justly be 
characterised as an enthusiast: the time of life at 
which he first developed his project, and the cautious 
steps by which he proceeded, oppose this idea. What- 
ever were his ultimate views or motives, the means 
by which he sought to attain his end, were charac- 
terised by deliberate imposition. Yet, when we call 
to mind the apocryphal gospels of the first centuries, 



ARABIA. 77 

and the pious frauds and lying miracles of those who 
called themselves ministers of Christ, we must admit 
that the Arabian prophet dealt by no means more 
largely in imposture, than many of the saints in the 
Romish calendar, and he was certainly a far more 
respectable man. Gibbon's sarcasm is but too well 
founded. < The injustice of Mekka and the choice 
of Medinah,' he says, c transformed the citizen into 
a prince, the humble preacher into the leader of 
armies; but his sword was consecrated by the example 
of the saints. ' # His private life was not unamiable. 
Simple in his manners, frugal in his diet, affectionate 
in the relations of life, the lord of Arabia despised 
the pomp of royalty: he milked the ewes, kindled his 
own fire, and mended, with his own hands, his shoes 
and coarse woollen garment. Dates and water were 
his usual fare: honey and milk his luxuries. The 
prohibition of wine was enforced by his example. 
When he travelled, he divided his morsel with his 
servant. The sincerity of his exhortations to bene- 
volence, was testified at his death, by the exhausted 
state of his coffers. He was affected to tears when 
the sword of an enemy sundered the bands of friend- 
ship: and his feeling of gratitude to Kadijah, neither 
time nor the death of his benefactress could eradi- 
cate. | So long as she lived, his conjugal fidelity was 
unimpeached; but when death terminated a union 

* It suited Gibbon's purpose to confound the saints of a 
paganised Christianity with the saints of the New Testa 
ment. We suppress the blasphemous insinuation which fol- 
lows. 

t ' Was not Kadijah old ?' inquired Ayesha, with the in- 
solence of a blooming beauty; ' and has not God given you 
a better in her place?' — 'No,' replied Mohammed, 'there 
never was a kinder or better woman. She believed in me 
when men despised me; she relieved my wants when I was 
poor and persecuted by the world: she was all devotion to my 
cause.' 

VOL. j. 7* 



78 ARABIA. 

of more than twenty-five years' duration, and the 
sunshine of prosperity beamed upon him, licentious 
principles were kindled, which ill accorded with his 
assumed character; and his vilest falsehoods were the 
revelations by which he sought to excuse these some- 
times unpremeditated departures from morality. The 
doctrine of indulgences would have precluded the 
necessity of Gabriel's communications on this subject. 
As a conqueror, more especially as an Asiatic con- 
queror, he might be esteemed clement, were it net 
for the signal vengeance taken on the Koraidhite 
Jews; which is the more remarkable, as a similar act 
of cruelty is the subject of execration in the Koran. 
So closely did Mohammed imitate, in this instance, 
the conduct of the Jewish persecutor towards the 
Christians of Nedjeraun, that he might seem to have 
been guided by the principle of retaliation. But the 
outcasts of Israel have met with similar treatment at 
every hand, Pagan, Christian, and Moslem: and the 
flames of the Inquisition awaited those whom Mo- 
hammed spared, and Omar only exiled. One decree 
of the Arabian legislator appears to have been dic- 
tated by genuine humanity: he enacted that, in the 
sale of captives, the infant should not be separated 
from the mother. It is a pity that the West India 
colonists are not Mohammedans. 

Fairly to appreciate the character of Mohammed, it 
would be requisite to have better information than is 
now accessible, as to the degree of religious knowledge 
which he possessed, and the sources from which 
he obtained it. The composition of the Koran, as 
regards the language, was probably his own dictation; 
but whence did he acquire his knowledge of the Old 
Testament histories and Jewish traditions? His 
family, his fellow-citizens were pagans: how came 
he to conceive his abhorrence of idolatry, his Jewish 
belief in the unity of God, his almost Christian 
notions of prayer ? The Jewish religion was, indeed, 



ARABIA. 79 

widely disseminated in Arabia; and he might have 
frequent opportunities of conversing with those who 
traded to Mekka; but how came he to go so far 
beyond his Jewish teachers, as to honour Christ? 
And how did he know that the Christians were open to 
the charge which he brings against them, that ' they 
take their priests and their monks for their lords 
besides God, and Christ the Son of Mary, although 
they are commanded to worship God only.'* He 
had probably never seen a copy of the New Testa- 
ment; yet, he refers to the Gospel ;| places the 
believers in Jesus above the Jewish unbelievers; J and 
constantly represents the Koran as ' a confirmation 
of those Scriptures which have been revealed before 
it.'§ Was he then a Christian to the extent of his 
knowledge of Christianity ? Were we to admit this, 
we must add, that his knowledge was so imperfect 
as to embrace none of its distinguishing doctrines: he 
was not a beliover in c Christ crucified.' 

1 The Mohammedans,' remarks the Abbe Fleury, 
c are neither atheists nor idolaters. On the contrary, 
their religion, false as it is, hath many principles in 
common with the true one. They believe in one 
God Almighty, Creator of all, just and merciful; they 
abhor polytheism and idolatry; they hold the immor- 
tality of the soul, a final judgment, a heaven and a 
hell, angels good and bad, and even guardian angels; 
they acknowledge a universal deluge; they honour 
the patriarch Abraham as the father and first author 
of their religion; they hold Moses and Christ to have 
been great prophets sent from God, and the Law and 

* Koran, chap. ix. 

t Ibid, chap. iii. 'O ye to whom the Scriptures have 
been given, why do ye dispute concerning Abraham, since the 
Law and the Gospel were not sent down till after him ? 
Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian; but he was of the 
true religion, one resigned unto God, and not of the number of 
the idolaters.' 

| Chap. iii. § Chap, xii, towards the end. 



80 ARABIA. 

the Gospel to be sacred books.' To this may be 
added, that, in contrast with the corrupt system 
of doctrine which to a great extent Islamism dis- 
placed, it has, in many respects, the advantage. 
Nay, it may be said to have embodied more truth and 
less error than the Romish superstition in its vulgar 
form. Saladin's was a more Christian faith than 
that of Cosur de Lion, and Mekka was the scene of a 
purer worship than Rome. Wherever Mohammed 
ism spread, it expelled idolatry: the pseudo-Christi- 
anity adopted and perpetuated it. The Moslems 
denounced and sometimes extirpated the image- 
worshippers: the orthodox, on the plea of heresy, 
destroyed their brethren. The religion of the Koran, 
sensual as are the future rewards it holds out to the 
faithful, was more spiritual than that which dealt in 
absolutions and indulgences: the former postponed 
at least the gratification of the passions to a future 
state, while the latter let them loose in this. Nor 
were the pretensions of Mohammed more impious 
than those of the Pope: the Arabian impostor pro- 
mised paradise to the faithful; the Roman pontiff 
sold heaven to the highest bidder, and fixed a price 
on the pains of hell. The morality of the Koran was 
far purer, too, than that of the canons; and finally, 
the devotion of the mosque brought the Moslem into 
far more intimate communion with the idea of Deity, 
— partook more of the character of worship, than the 
unmeaning ceremonials of the Romish demonolatry. 
In Spain, the two systems came fairly into opposition; 
and who would not prefer to have lived under the 
splendid dominion of the Moorish sovereigns of Gra- 
nada, rather than under their Gothic contemporaries, 
or in the later days of Ferdinand and Isabella, or 
Charles the Fifth ? Had the Arabian empire been 
but able to maintain itself in Spain, as the Turkish 
lords of Greece have been suffered to reign at the 
other extremity of Europe, the Inquisition would 



ARABIA. 81 

never have kindled its flames, and the progress of the 
Reformation in the Peninsula would have had less to 
contend against. 

Had the Christianity of that age corresponded to 
the faith of the New Testament, it must have 
been morally impossible that it should yield to either 
the Koran or the sword of Mohammed. The Koran, 
a book that will not endure the test of translation,* so 
exclusively do its beauties consist in its diction, — this 
clumsy revelation, so little in harmony with the Scrip- 
tures to which it pretends to be an appendix, so defi- 
cient in all the characters of a Divine record, so little 
adapted to universal circulation, — contemptible in any 
language but the Arabic,! — cannot stand before the 
Bible. To bring them into comparison would be to 
insult the majesty of inspired truth. < Of all creeds,' 
it has been justly remarked, c Islam has been found the 
least compatible with philosophy. The Koran cannot 
bear inspection. And here the adage of infidelity is 
true 5 for the Moslem, when they begin to reason, will 
cease to believe. 'J 

The reader will pardon this digression. In present- 
ing even a sketch of Arabian history, it cannot be 

* 'The harmony and copiousness of style will not reach, in 
a version, the European infidel: he will peruse with impatience 
the endless, incoherent rhapsody of fable, and precept, and 
declamation, which seldom excites a sentiment or an idea, 
which sometimes crawls in the dust, and is sometimes lost in 
the clouds. The Divine attributes exalt the fancy of the Ara- 
bian missionary; but his loftiest strains must yield to the sub- 
lime simplicity of the book of Job, composed in a remote age, 
in the same country, and in the same language. If the compo- 
sition of the Koran exceed the faculties of a man, to what su- 
perior intelligence should we ascribe the Ilia d of Homer, or 
the Philippics of Demosthenes?' — Gibbon. 

t It has, however, been translated (or part of it) into the 
Chinese, the Malay, and the Macassar languages, and probably 
some other dialects of Eastern Asia; but the Mohammedans of 
those countries are, for the most part, idolaters. 

$ Douglas's Hints on Missions, p. 82. 



82 ARABIA. 

thought irrelevant to take this general view of the mo- 
ral phenomenon which had its rise in that country, — 
the religion not of the Arabians only, butfof the Per- 
sians, the Syrians, the Tartars, the Turks, the Moors 
of Tripoli, and Barbary, and Spain, the Saracens of 
Egypt, the inhabitants of the Indian peninsula, of the 
Malayan Archipelago, and the remotest tribes of east- 
ern Asia. The subsequent annals of Mohammedism 
will not long detain us, as they soon cease to be iden- 
tified with the history of Arabia. 

On the death of Mohammed, the mohaujeretn 
(fugitives) of Mekka, and the ansaur (auxiliaries) of 
Medinah, contended for the privilege of electing his 
successor. The birth, the alliance, and the character 
of Ali, the son of Abu Taleb and the husband of 
Fatima, the prophet's only surviving child, gave him 
the strongest claim to the vacant throne. He was 
the head of the family of Hashem, and, as such, the 
hereditary prince of Mekka, and guardian of the 
Kaaba. He is said, moreover, to have united in him- 
self, the qualifications of a poet, a hero, and a saint; 
his eloquence was equal to his valour; and Moham- 
med had delighted to style him his brother, his vice- 
gerent, his Aaron. But the jealousy of the Koreish 
and the spirit of faction led to the disregard of his 
claims. It was at first proposed to choose two khalifs, 

a measure which would have been fatal to the 

nascent empire; but Omar, on being nominated by 
Abubeker, avowed his inability to discharge so 
weighty a trust, and renouncing his own pretensions, 
declared himself the first subject of the mild and 
venerable Abubeker. The rival cities united in their 
allegiance to the new sovereign; the Hashemites 
alone declined the oath of fidelity, and their chief 
maintained in Jiis own house for some months, a 
sullen and independent reserve, in spite of Omar's 
threat that he would set fire to it. The death of 
Fatima at length subdued the indignant spirit of Ali ; 



ARABIA. 83 

and at the mild remonstrance of Abubeker, who is 
said to have even offered to abdicate in his favour, he 
consented to waive all further opposition, and to 
unite against the common enemy. The death of the 
prophet was the signal to the restless and independent 
tribes of pagan Arabs who had submitted with re- 
luctance to this new religion, to shake off the yoke. 
Abubeker found himself reduced to the cities of 
Mekka, Medinah, and Tayef; and even the Koreish 
showed a disposition to restore the idols of the Kaaba. 
By the vigorous measures, however, which were taken 
by Abubeker, and the valour of Khaled, the uncon- 
nected tribes of the desert were soon reclaimed to 
obedience, and the appearance of a military force 
revived the loyality of the wavering.* But in Ye- 
mama, Moseilama hoisted his rival standard, and, 
supported by the tribe of Hanifah, was sufficiently 
formidable to require that Khaled should take the 
field against him at the head of 40,000 men. In the 
first action, the Moslems were defeated with the loss 
of 1,200 men; but their defeat was avenged by the 

* The circular letter of Abubeker ran as follows: ' In the 
name of the most merciful God; to the rest of the true believ- 
ers, health and happiness, and the blessing of God be upon you. 
I praise the most high God, and I pray for his prophet Moham- 
med. This is to acquaint you, that I intend to send the true 
believers into Syria, to take it out of the hands of the infidels. 
And I would have you know, that the fighting for religion is an 
act of obedience to God,' The khalif's directions to his gene- 
ra! do him honour: ' When you meet your enemies, quit 
yourselves like men, and do not turn your backs; and if you 
get the victory, kill no little children, nor old people, nor 
women. JJest-roy no palm-trees, nor barn any fields of corn: 
cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such 
as you kill for subsistence.' The troops are ordered to respect 
the inmates of monasteries. But ' you will find another sort of 
people,' it is added, ' that belong to the synagogues of Satan, 
who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and 
give them no quarter, till they either turn Mohammedans, or 
pay tribute,' — Mills's History, pp. 48 — 50. 



84 ARABIA. 

slaughter of 10,000 infidels, and Moseilama himself 
received from a javelin a mortal wound. The various 
rebel chiefs, left without a leader, were speedily re- 
duced to submission, and the whole nation were soon 
united by the desire of foreign conquest. On the 
summons of Abubeker, a large army assembled round 
Medinah, the command of which was given to Yezid 
Ebn Abu Sofian. A second army, destined for the 
subjugation of Palestine, was raised through the enthu- 
siasm inspired by the successes of the first, and Amrou 
was nominated the general. Thus Khaled was again 
passed by; but that ferocious Moslem was ultimately 
sent to co-operate with Abu Obeidah, to whom Yezid 
had resigned his charge. The fall of Bosra, which 
was hastened by the treachery of the Homan go- 
vernor, opened the way to Damascus. The battle of 
Aiznadin, in July 633, in which 50,000 Christians 
and infidels are said to have been slain, decided the 
fate of the capital of Syria. Emesa and Baalbek 
were taken the following year, and the Syro-Grecians 
made a last and ineffectual stand in the open field, on 
the banks of the Hieromax. Jerusalem sustained a 
siege of four months, at the end of which, the patri- 
arch Sophronius obtained, as a term of capitulation, 
the honour of delivering up the holy city to the Khalif 
Omar in person, who had quietly succeeded to the 
sceptre bequeathed to him by Abubeker. Leaving 
Ali as his lieutenant, the Commander of the Faithful 
set out on his red camel for Jerusalem, with a few 
attendants, and equipped more like a prophet than a 
sovereign. The gates were opened to him on his 
arrival, and the patriarchs of Christendom and 
Islam entered the holy city together in familiar 
discourse concerning the antiquities of the place. 
The conquest of Aleppo, A. D. 638, alter a tedious 
and bloody siege, and that of Antioch which followed, 
completed the subjugation of Syria. The fall of 
Alexandria before the forces of Amrou, decided the 



ARABIA. 86 

fate of. Egypt in the same year. The battle of Ka- 
desia, two stations from Kufah, and the capture of 
Medaein (Ctesiphon) had already made the Moslems 
the masters of Persia almost to the banks of the Oxus. 
In the twenty-third year of the Hejira, Omar received 
a mortal wound from the hand of an assassin. He 
left the appointment of his successor to the discretion 
of six commissioners, who offered the khalifate to 
AH, one of their number, but, as it would seem, with 
restrictions which he disdained; and Othman, the 
secretary of Mohammed, accepted the government. 

f The unlimited obedience of the Moslems to Abu- 
beker and Omar, was not continued to Othman. His 
partiality to his family, his appropriation of the pub- 
lic money to the use of his friends, and his presuming 
to sit in the highest seat of the pulpit, though Abu- 
beker and Omar had occupied only the first or the 
second step, were the real or alleged crimes which 
prompted the Arabs to shake off their allegiance. 
The oppressed and the factious subjects of the khalif 
in Egypt, Syria, and Persia, assembled in the neigh- 
bourhood of Medinah, and demanded justice. The 
khalif satisfied all their requisitions, but the malig- 
nant and ambitious spirit of Ayesha was not readily 
appeased. She wished the throne to be filled by one 
of her own partisans, and she secretly assisted all the 
machinations of the rebels. A mandate, forged 
in the khalif s hand-writing, for the murder of the 
Egyptian lieutenant whom he had been compelled 
to name, was placed within the reach of the deputies 
from Egypt: the torch of civil discord was lighted 
once more, and the insurgents besieged the injured 
Othman in his palace. Hassan and Hossein, the 
sons of Ali, protected him awhile; and some remains 
of respect for a legitimate successor of the prophet, 
suspended his fate. But the animosity of the rebels 
strengthened; the gates of the palace were forced; 
the chief conspirators entered the apartment in which 

vol. i. 8 



ARABIA. 

the khalif was seated studying the Koran, and the 
blood of his faithful attendants was shed in vain in 
defending their venerable chief from his enemies.'* 
The murderers of Othman offered the vacant kha- 
lifate to Ali, but he refused to accept it till the 
popular voice had ratified the election. At the hour 
of prayer, he repaired to the mosque at Medinah, 
clad in a thin cotton gown, a coarse turban on his 
head, his slippers in one hand, and a bow, instead of 
a staff, in the other. The chiefs of the tribes saluted 
their new sovereign, and gave him their right hand 
in token of fealty. Thus twenty-four years after 
the death of Mohammed, his son-in la$" was invested 
with what seemed his rightful inheritance. But short 
and tumultuous was his reign. Moawiyah, the son 
of Abu Sofiah, possessed the affections of the army of 
Syria, and the various lieutenants throughout the 
empire refused to recognise the authority of Ali. The 
pretence for insurrection was, that the murder of 
Othman remained unavenged. The bloody shirt of 
the late khalif was suspended over the pulpit at 
Damascus, and 60,000 Saracens were seduced from 
their allegiance to become the instruments of faction. 
Two powerful chieftains, Telha and Zobeir, irritated, 
it is said, by Ali's refusing to confer on them the 
governorships of Kufah and Bassora, escaped into 
Irak, accompanied by the widow of the prophet, 
where they erected the standard of revolt. At the 
head of 20,000 loyal Arabs, Ali marched from Me- 
dinah to Bassora, and being joined at Kufah by 
10,000 auxiliaries, encountered and defeated the 
superior numbers of the rebels. Telha and Zobeir 
were both slain, and the guilty and perfidious Ayesha 
was led a captive into the tent of Ali, who respect- 
fully dismissed her to her proper station at the tomb 

* Mill's History of Muhainmedanism, pp. 89, 9. 



ARABIA. 87 

of the prophet, under the guard of his two sons, 
Hassan and Hossein. 

Established at Kufah, the Commander of the Faith- 
ful received the submission of Egypt, Arabia, Persia, 
and Khorassan; but he was speedily summoned to 
the field by a more powerful foe. The army of Syria 
proclaimed Moawiyah khalif, denouncing Ali as the 
murderer of Othman. In the course of 110 days, 
90 battles or skirmishes took place between the hos- 
tile armies in the plains of SerTeyn. Five and forty 
thousand of the partisans of Moawiyah, and twenty- 
five thousand of the soldiers of Ali, fell in this civil 
war. c The cousin of Mohammed, with a generosity 
rare in Asiatic princes, commanded his troops inva- 
riably to await the attack, to spare the fugitives, and 
to respect the virtue of the female captives. lYor 
was his valour less conspicuous than his humanity. 
" How long," said Ali to Moawiyah, " shall the people 
lose their lives in our controversies? I challenge you 
to appeal to the decision of God and the sword." 
But his adversary declined this test of their merits, 
for the personal prowess of Ali was proverbial in 
the army. In the morning, after a nocturnal battle, 
the victory of Ali appeared no longer doubtful; but 
a stratagem of Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt and 
friend of Moawiyah, deceived the soldiers of the law- 
ful khalif. The Koran was hoisted on the points of 
the lances of the Syrian soldiers, and the cry was re- 
peated, that that book ought to decide all differ- 
ences. In vain did Ali represent to his Arabs the 
insidiousness of the appeal: their enthusiasm was ex- 
cited, they forgot their allegiance, and bowed in 
veneration before the word of the apostle. The 
battle was suspended, the armies retired to their 
several camps and a long negotiation ensued. The 
authority of Ali declined from day to day; and rebel- 
lion, always more rapidly contagious than a pestilence, 
spread throughout the khalifate. The Charegites, 



88 ARABIA. 

a sect of religious and political zealots, closed the 
career of Ali. In the open field he had defeated their 
force, but three of the fugitives resolved on his mur- 
der, in expiation of the death of their comrades. In 
the disordered imagination of the Charegites, peace 
would never be restored to their country during the 
lives of Moawiyah and Amrou. Each of the three 
confederates chose his victim, and poisoned his dag- 
ger.* The secretary of Amrou received the blow 
which was meditated for his master; Moawiyah, was 
severely wounded; but, in the mosque of Kufah, the 
dagger of the third assassin was plunged into the 
breast of Ali, and the generous chief died in the 
sixty-third year of his age, commanding his son not 
to aggravate the sufferings of the murderer by useless 
torture. On the death of Ali, his eldest son Hassan 
was saluted khalif by the Kufians, but Moawiyah was 
in possession of Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, and the 
unambitious descendant of Mohammed soon retired 
to a life of ease and piety at Medinah. But the 
simple recluse was still an object of jealousy in 
the eyes of Moawiyah, the supreme lord of the Mos- 
lem world. Yezid, the son of the khalif, professed a 
passion for the wife of Hassan, and instigated her 
to poison the beloved grandson of the founder of the 
Saracenian greatness.' "f 

* This atrocious conspiracy is said to have been formed by 
the three assassins in the temple of Mekka. 

t Mills, pp. 93 — 96. This favourable view of Ali's cha- 
racter has been adopted chiefly on the authority of Abulfeda, 
the Emir of Bamah, who compares him to Marcus Antonius. 
Whether it may not savour of Persian partiality, might admit 
of question, if such a question were worth agitating. The 
Abbede Marigny, in the preface to his History of the Arabians, 
says, « I must own I never met with any thing in history to 
countenance the opinion they would have us entertain of this 
prince. Not a single act is therein recorded which shows the 
great man. On the contrary, he appears to be of an unsteady, 
turbulent disposition, inconsistent in what related to himself, 



ARABIA. 89 

On the accession of the son of Moawiyah, a feeble 
attempt was made to reinstate the family of Hashem 
in the person of Hossein, the surviving son of Ali; 
but, basely betrayed by his followers, he fell covered 
with wounds, and his sisters and children were led in 
chains to Damascus. But Yezid, though advised to 
extirpate the rival ra<$e, discovered a clemencv rare 
in Asiatic despots, and honourably dismissed them to 
Medinah. The reputed descendants of Ali and Fatima 
are still numerous in every quarter of the Moslem 
world. In Arabia, where they form whole villages, 
they are styled shereefs or seids; in Syria and Tur- 
key, emirs; in Africa, Persia, and India, seids. The 
green turban is, in some of these countries, assumed 
by those who do not even pretend to the honour of 
an hereditary claim; but in Turkey, it is still the 
great distinction of the descendants of Fatima. # 

and much more unsettled in what concerned others. The 
very moment the prophet his father-in-law was dead, he be- 
gan to cabal, in order to obtain the khalifate. He had no 
sooner ascended the throne, than he quarrelled with every one, 
so that he was obliged to quit his capital, and fix the seat of 
the khalifate in another place.' Ali's warlike exploits have 
been celebrated with Arabian extravagance in the Khawer- 
namah, a poem well known in the East. In his last moments, 
he is said to have confessed that 10,000 individuals had fallen 
by his hand ! It would not be easy to clear him altogether 
from the charge of favouring the assassination of Othman ; 
and Moawiyah, at least, appears to have acted under the de- 
cided conviction of his having been concerned in it. The 
reader who is disposed to pursue the inquiry, will do well to 
consult Major Price's Retrospect of Mahommedan History, 
compiled chiefly from original Persian authorities (3 vols. 4to, 
1811). See especially vol. i, pp. 188, and 253. 

* In Arabia, the title of shereefs is applied to the descend- 
ants of Mohammed who are of the military profession; that of 
seid, to those who engage in commerce; but sometimes shereef 
means the descendants of Hossein, and seid those of Hassan. 
— Mills, p. 101. 

VOL. I. 8 # 



90 ARABIA. 

For nearly a century (A.D. 661 — 750) the house 
of Moawiyah, commonly called the dynasty of the 
Ommiades, continued to enjoy the khalifate; but, in 
the reign of Merwaun, an insurrection was made in 
favour of the great-grandson of Abbas, the uncle of 
the prophet, which terminated in a general massacre 
of the descendants of Moawiyah. The Ommiades 
had removed the seat of government from Medinah 
to Damascus; the first of the Abassides fixed his court 
at Kufah, whence it was transferred to Haschemiah 
on the Euphrates; and Almansor, the second prince 
of the family, erected on the site of that village the 
magnificent city of Bagdadt. But the undivided 
khalifate terminated in the early days of the Abassides. 
Heal or nominal descendants of Ali and Fatima had 
possessed themselves of the thrones of Egypt and 
Western Africa; and a prince of the Ommiades, who 
escaped the general massacre of his family, was 
founder of an independent kingdom in Spain. Thus, 
the sovereignty of Arabia was lost by the extent and 
rapidity of foreign conquest.* From being the seat 
and centre, it sank into a mere province of the Mo- 
hammedan empire ; and ' the Bedoweens of the 
desert,' in the language of Gibbon, i awakening 
from their dream of dominion, resumed their old and 
solitary independence.' 

The ancient feud between the friends and enemies 
of Ali, is still perpetuated in the grand schism of 
the Mohammedan church, which divides the shei-ites, 
or sectaries, from the sunnites or orthodox Moslems, 
and excites the religious animosity subsisting between 
the Persians and the Turks. The shei-ites (or, as 

* At the end of the first century of the Hejira, the khalifs 
were the most potent and absolute monarchs of the globe; and 
under the last of the Ommiades, the Arabian empire extended 
200 days' journey from E. to W., from the confines of Tartary 
and India to the shores of the Atlantic. 



ARABIA. 91 

they call themselves, adli-ites) bitterly execrate as 
usurpers the three khalifs who intercepted the inde- 
feasible right of Ali, and the name of Omar is expres- 
sive of all that is detestable. The tomb of Ali, near 
Kufah, has been enriched by the offerings of succes- 
sive dynasties of barbaric khans and shahs; and 
,£ the twelve imaums,' Ali, his two sons, and the 
lineal descendants of Hossein to the ninth generation, 
are the saints and martyrs of the church of Persia. 
By the sunnites, on the contrary, Abubeker, Omar, 
Othman, and Ali, are alike recognised as legitimate 
successors of the prophet; but the lowest degree of 
sanctity is assigned to the husband of Fatima.* 

For five centuries, the family of Abbas reigned 
with various degrees of authority over the Moslems 
of the East. Radhi, the twentieth khalif of this 
dynasty (A.D. 940), was the last who was invested 
with any considerable power. During the next three 
centuries, the successors of Mohammed swayed a 
feeble sceptre. The introduction of a body-guard of 
Turkish mercenaries by the Khalif Motassem, led to 
the same species of military oligarchy as that of the 
praetorian guards of Rome, the mamlouks of Kahira, 
and the janizaries of Constantinople. About the 
year 890, the 277th of the Hejira,) a new prophet 
appeared in the neighbourhood of Kufah, of the 
name of .Karmath, the success of whose preaching 
threatened Arabia with a new revolution. He an- 
nounced himself as the reformer of Mohammedism; 
he denounced the pomps and vanities of the court of 
Bagdadt, yet relaxed the duties of ablution, fasting, 
and pilgrimage, and permitted the use of wine and 
pork. A timid persecution assisted the progress of 
this new sect. After a bloody conflict, they made 
themselves masters of the province of Bahhrein; 
Baalbek, Kufah, and Bagdadt, were successively 

* See Mod. Trav., Syria, vol. i, p. 189. 



92 ARABIA. 

taken and pillaged; and Abu Thaher, the successor 
of Karmath, led his troops across the desert to the 
holy city, where 30,000 citizens and strangers were 
put to the sword, and the black stone of the Kaaba 
was borne away in triumph; but it was eventually 
restored. For two centuries, these Karmathians were 
the scourge of the khalifate, and the state, convulsed 
to its centre, was never again perfectly settled in 
peace.* 

At length, towards the middle of the seventh cen- 
tury of the Hejira A.D. 1258), the metropolis of 
Islamism fell into the hands of the grandson of Zingis 
Khan; and in the Khalif Motassem, the thirty- 
seventh of his house, who was barbarously murdered, 
the khalifate of Bagdadt expired. The spiritual su- 
premacy was perpetuated for three centuries more, in 
the second dynasty of the Abassides, but without the 
slightest vestige of temporal authority ; till, when the 
Emperor Selim conquered Egypt, A.D. 1517, he took 
captive Mohammed XII, the last of the Abassides, 
and received from him at Constantinople, the formal 
renunciation of the khalifate. The keys of the 
temple of Mekka were also delivered up to the con- 
queror by the Fatimite shereef ; and since then, the 
ecclesiastical supremacy has, on this doubtful title, 
attached to the Turkish sultans. 

* Gibbon, c. iii. Mills, p. 168. These Karmathians are 
supposed to be the same sect that appeared soon after in the 
north of Persia, under the title of Bussunees (corrupted into 
assassins), from Hussan Subah, tneir founder, whose dogmas 
were a mixture of Mohammedism with the doctrines of the 
Sooffees. Whether Karmath was the same person as Hussan, 
does not appear. A different etymology has been given of the 
word corrupted into assassins. However this may be, the 
founder of this sect is obviously the person described by Volney 
as the founder of the Ansarians or Anzairies of Syria, who 
are a shei-ite sect, and the remains, as it would seem, of 
these Karmathians. — See Mod. Trav., Syria, vol. i, pp. 
261—273. 



ARABIA. 93 

From the beginning of the sixteenth to the middle 
of the eighteenth century, the history of Arabia ex- 
hibits nothing more interesting than the squabbles of 
petty chieftains, and the rise and fall of different 
sheikdoms or principalities. But, between sixty and 
seventy years ago, a new prophet started up in the 
province of Nedjed, whose sect has rapidly spread, 
and produced a greater change in the political state 
of the country, than any event since the time of Mo- 
hammed. Abd-ul-Wahheb was born at El Aiane or 
Aijana, a town in the district of Darale, in the pro- 
vince of Nedjed el Arud, early in the eighteenth cen- 
tury.* He was educated at Medinah, and afterwards 
gravelled through Persia, and spent some time at 
Bassora. He returned to his native country a Mo- 
hammedan reformer. c The province of Nedjed was 
at this time divided among a multitude of smaller 
tribes, each governed by its own sheikh. To these, 
Abd-ul-Wahheb pointed out the abuses which had 
crept into the Muselman religion, particularly the 
worshipping of saints, and the use of spirituous 
liquors, and other exhilarating articles. He repro- 
bated the doctrine of the two sects of the simnis, with 
respect to the denying that the Koran was either 
created or existing from all eternity, but admitted it 
was inspired by God as a guide for the conduct of 
mankind. However, as the greater part of the 
sheikhs were sunnis, he conciliated them by acknow- 
ledging the authority of the sayings of Mohammed, "f 

* The pseudo Ali Bey (Badhia) places his birth about the 
year 1720, but on conjecture merely. 

t According to the information communicated toNiebuhr by 
an intelligent Bedoween sheikh, Wahheb denied the inspira- 
tion of the Koran. < He considered Mohammed, Jesus Christ, 
Moses, and many others respected by the Sunnites, in the cha- 
racter of prophets, as merely great men, whose history might 
be read with improvement, denying that any book had ever 
been written by Divine inspiration, or brought down from 



94 ARABIA. 

Lord Valentia, from whom we take the above account, 
received from Hajji Abdallah, an avowed Wahhabee, 
the following statement of their profession of faith: 
i There is only one God. He is God, and Moham- 
med is his prophet. Act according to the Koran and 
the sayings of Mohammed. It is unnecessary for 
you to pray for the blessing of God on the prophet 
oftener than once in your life. You are not to invoke 
the prophet to intercede with God on your behalf, 
for his intercession will be of no avail. Do not call 
on the prophet; call on God alone.'* These doc- 
trines, we are told, spread rapidly among the several 
tribes, and gradually led to the recognition of a 
supreme controlling power in the person of the re- 
former, which gave him a preponderating influence in 
the north eastern part of the Peninsula. The sheikhs 
who did not acknowledge his authority, at length be- 
came jealous of his ascendancy, and, under the com- 
mand of the Sheikh of Lachsa, attacked him in his na- 
tive city. Abd-ul-Wahheb defended himself success- 
fully, and, on a subsequent occasion, defeated an army 
of 4,000 men, which had been raised against him. 
From that time, his cause and his authority continued 
to extend. Aware what men he had to deal with as 
his followers, he did not neglect to superadd to the 
inducements of fanaticism, the temptation of plunder, 
by declaring that all the property of the unconverted 
should be confiscated for the use of their conquerors. 
Numbers, therefore, turned Wahhabees to save their 
property before he marched against them, and imme- 
diately began to put in practice their new principles 
by attacking and spoiling their neighbours. 

One of the most powerful supporters of Wahheb 

heaven by the angel Gabriel.' Ali Bey (Badhia), however, 
maintains that they acknowledge Mohammed to have been a 
prophet, and the Koran to be the Divine word. 
* Valentia's Travels, 8vo, vol. ii, p. 368, 



ARABIA. 95 

was the Sheikh of Nedjeraun, named Mekrami. He, 
too, in his youth, had travelled throughout Arabia, 
Persia, and India, and returned with liberal prin- 
ciples. The Imaum of Saade instrusted him with the 
government of Nedjeraun; but scarcely had he been 
invested with the office, than he threw off his alle- 
giance. By his genius and his valour, Niebuhr says, 
he had rendered himself formidable, not only to his 
neighbours, but to distant chieftains. In 1763, he 
invaded the principality of Abu Arisen, and defeated 
the shereef, but did not follow up his victory, being 
recalled by an attack on his own territories by the 
Sheikh of Kachtan. At another time, he made an 
irruption into Haschid-u-Bekil, and made himself 
master of the canton of Sahaun. In 1764, he led his 
troops across JNedjed, and entered the province of 
Lachsa, as the ally of Wahheb. Sheikh Mekrami en- 
joyed the reputation of being a profound theologian 
as well as a valiant warrior. He honoured Moham- 
med as the prophet of God, but treated with little 
respect his successors and commentators. His pray- 
ers were believed to have singular effect in procuring 
rain. When the country suffered by drought, he 
was accustomed to appoint a fast, and, at the close of 
it, a public procession, at which all his subjects were 
required to assist, without their turbans, and in the 
meanest garb. 

The account which Badhia, who travelled under 
the name of Ali Bey, gives of the rise of the Wah- 
habees, varies in several respects from the statement 
of Lord Valentia. He represents the reformer as 
having taken up the resolution in early life, while 
pursuing his theological studies at Medinah, to 
restore the Mohammedan worship to its pristine sim- 
plicity. ' Medinah and Mekka, being interested in 
maintaining the ancient rites and customs, wer^ 
not the proper places to introduce the innovations 
proposed by the reformer. He therefore directed 



96 ARABIA. 

his steps towards the East, with a view to insinuate 
himself among the tribes of Bedoween Arabs, who, 
being indifferent about the worship, and too little 
enlightened to support or defend its particular rites, 
were not, on the other hand, interested in the sup- 
port of any one in particular. In reality, Abdoul- 
wahheb made a proselyte of Ibn Saaoud, prince, or 
grand sheikh, of the Arabs, established at Draaiya 
(Daraieh), a town seventeen days' journey east of 
Medinah, in the desert. The period of the reforma- 
tion of Abdoulwahheb may be reckoned from that 
date ( 1 747 ) . Abdoulwahheb never offered himself as 
a prophet, as has been supposed. He has only acted 
as a learned sheikh reformer, who was desirous of 
purifying the worship of all the additions which the 
imaums, the interpreters, and the doctors had made 
to it, and of reducing it to the primitive simplicity of 
the Koran. The reform of Abdoulwahheb, being 
admitted by Ibn Saaoud, was embraced by all the 
tribes subject to his command. This was a pretext 
for attacking the neighbouring tribes, who were suc- 
cessively reduced to the alternative of embracing the 
reform, or of perishing under the sword of the re- 
former. 

' At the death of Ibn Saaoud, his successor, Ab- 
delaaziz (or Abduluziz) continued to use those ener- 
getic means which could not fail in their effect.* 

* Abduluziz is represented by Lord Valentia to have been 
the son of Abd-ul-Wahheb', whom he is stated to have peace- 
ably succeeded in his spiritual and temporal power. But, ac- 
cording to Niebuhr, the son of Abd-ul-Wahheb was named 
Mohammed, and he had already succeeded his father, in 1764. 
Niebuhr travelled about that time, and he says: < After the 
death of Abd-ul-Wahheb, his son retained the same authority, 
and continued to prosecute his views. He sustains the su- 
preme ecclesiastical character in El Arud. The hereditary 
sheikhs of the small states in that country, which were once 
independent, do indeed still retain a nominal authority, but 
Mohammed is, in fact, sovereign of the whole. He exacts a 



ARABIA. 97 

Upon the smallest resistance, he attacked with a 
decided superiority; and consequently, all the wealth 
and property of the vanquished passed immediately 
into the hands of the Wahhabites. If the enemy did 
not resist, but embraced the reform, and entered 
under the dominion of Abdelaaziz, the prince of the 
faithful, this still more increased the strength of his 
party. 

f Abdelaaziz, being already master of the interior 
part of Arabia, soon found himself in a state to extend 
his views over the adjacent country. He began, in 
1801, by making an expedition to the neighbourhood 
of Bagdadt. At the head of a body of troops mounted 
on dromedaries, he advanced upon Imaum Hossein, a 
town at a short distance from Bagdadt, where stood 
the tomb of this Imaum, the grandson of the prophet, 
in a magnificent temple, filled with the riches of 
Turkey and Persia. The inhabitants made but a 
feeble resistance; and the conqueror put to the sword 
all the men and male children of every age. While 
they executed this horrible butchery, a Wahhabite 
doctor cried from the top of a tower, < Kill, strangle 
all the infidels who give companions to God.' Ab- 
delaaziz seized upon the treasures of the temple, 
which he destroyed and pillaged, and burned the city, 
converting it into a desert.* 

tribute, under the name of sikka (aid), for the purpose of 
carrying on the war against the infidels. ' Badhia has appa- 
rently mistaken this son of Abd-ul-Wahheb for his father, 
styling the latter, the Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdoulwahheb. 
Abduluziz was probably the son of Ibn Saaoud, though he is * 
merely called by Badhia, his successor. But, from 1764 to 
1801, there is a chasm. If Abduluziz was really descended 
from Abd-ul-Wahheb, he may have been his grandson, and 
the successor of Mohammed. 

* « No wars,' justly remarks Mr Mills, « which ever deso- 
lated the Christian world, have caused half the bloodshed and 
wo, or been so strongly stamped with the character of im- 
placable animosity, as have the political and religious contro-* 

VOL. I. 9 



98 ARABIA. 

' Upon his return from this horrible expedition, 
Abdelaaziz fixed his eyes upon Mekka, persuaded 
that, could he seize upon this holy city, the centre of 
Islamism, he should acquire a new title to the sove- 
reignty of the Mussulman countries that surround it. 
Fearing the vengeance of the Pasha of Bagdadt, on 
account of his expedition against Imaum HosseVn, he 
was unwilling to absent himself from his territory; 
he, therefore, sent his son Saaoud with a strong army 
to take possession of Mekka.'* 

Thus far we have followed Ali Bey ; but the parti- 
culars of this expedition are given with more minute- 
ness and apparent authenticity by Lord Valentia, 
who visited Arabia in 1803-4. Ghalib, the reigning 
shereef, was at this time deservedly unpopular. He 
was represented to the noble Traveller as a monster 
of iniquity, who had scrupled at no means of accumu- 
lating treasure, and who had poisoned two pashas 
and a young prince of the Maldives, who had come to 
Djidda in a vessel of his own, on his way to Mekka. 
So little confidence did Mozeife, his brother-in-law, 
place in him, that, on being sent on a mission to 
Daraieh, he took the opportunity of deserting, and 
professed himself a Wahhabee. On this, Abduluziz 
intrusted him with the command of 12,000 men, 
with which he returned to invade the territories of 
his brother-in-law, and, in several battles, constantly 
defeated him. In February 1803, he laid siege to 

versies of the Mohammedan sectaries. The history of every 
age of the Mejira teems with details of horror; and the Turks 
and Persians, the representatives of the two sets of opinions, 
have in most ages emulated each other in mutual detestation. 
In the rancour of their feuds, not only were the Christians and 
Jews held in comparative esteem, but the destruction of a sin- 
gle individual of the adverse party, has been accounted a more 
meritorious action than the slaughter of seventy individuals of 
any other description.' — Hist, of Muhammed, p. 374. 
+ Travels of Ali Bey, vol. ii, pp. 129 — 34. 






ARABIA. 99 

Tayif, where Ghalib had his finest palace and most 
flourishing gardens. The shereef hastened to its- 
relief, and defended the place for several days, till his 
nephew Abdullah secretly withdrew in the night 
to Mekka; when, conscious of the detestation in 
which he was held by his subjects, and dreading lest 
they should place Abdullah in his stead, Ghalib aban- 
doned Tayif, after setting his palace on fire, and, 
with his wives and treasure, gained his capital. 
Mozeife immediately entered Tayif, and his followers 
commenced their usual work of devastation. Eight 
hundred males were put to the sword, but the harems 
were respected; many houses, however, were burned, 
and the whole place was plundered. All the saint's 
tombs were destroyed, and among them, that of Ab- 
dullah Ebn Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed, an 
edifice celebrated throughout Arabia for its pre- 
eminent beauty and sanctity. Mozeife, as a reward 
of his treachery, was appointed governor of Tayif; 
but, unwilling that any descendant of the prophet 
should be his viceroy in Mekka, Abduluziz sent his 
eldest son Saoud to take the command of the vic- 
torious army, with which he marched against the 
holy city so rapidly, that Ghalib, taken by surprise 
and panic-struck, fled to Djidda, leaving his brother 
to make the best terms he could with the enemy. On 
the 27th of April, 1803, the Wahhabite general 
entered Mekka.* In strict conformity to the terms 
of the capitulation, he neither plundered nor injured 
the inhabitants. Scandalized, however, at the sepul- 
chral honours paid to the descendants of the prophet, 
he ordered eighty splendid tombs, the great ornament 
of the city, to be levelled with the ground; nor was 

* Lord Valentia speaks of this as the first time that Mekka 
had submitted to a hostile invader since Mohammed entered it 
in 629. But Abu Thaher had previously taken and pillaged 
the city in the year 930. 



100 ARABIA. 

the monument of the venerable Kadijah exempted 
from the ruthless edict. The coffee-houses next fell 
under the desolating zeal of the reformers : the 
hookahs were piled in a heap, and burned, and the 
use of tobacco and coffee was prohibited under severe 
penalties. The holy places were plundered, but the 
Kaaba remained uninjured; and Saoud, aware of the 
benefits which the city derived from the annual influx 
of pilgrims, transmitted the following letter to the 
Grand Seignior: 

c Saoud to Selim. I entered Mekka on the 4th 
day of Moharem, in the 1,218th year of the Hejira. 
I kept peace towards the inhabitants. I destroyed all 
the tombs that were idolatrously worshipped. I 
abolished the levying of all customs above two and 
a half per cent. I confirmed the kadi whom you had 
appointed to govern in the place, agreeably to the 
commands of Mohammed. I desire that, in the 
ensuing years, you will give orders to the Pashas 
of Sham (Damascus) and Misr (Cairo), not to come 
accompanied with the mahamd* trumpets, and 
drums into Mekka and Medinah. For why? Reli- 
gion is not profited by these things. Peace be be- 
tween us, and may the blessing of God be unto you ! 
Dated on the 10th day of Moharem.' (May 3'.) 

On the 1 1th of May, Saoud marched against Djidda; 
but the delay had given time to the shereef to prepare 
for his reception. An attempt made to storm the 
town failed, but Saoud contrived to cut off the supply 
of water, and during the nine days that the blockade 
was continued, numbers perished with thirst. At 
length, the shereef was induced to offer a sum of 
money to Saoud as the condition of his abandoning 
the siege ; and the sum of a lac and 30,000 dollars 

For a description of the mahamcl, or mahmal, and the 
procession alluded to, see Mod. Tray., Syria, vol. ii, pp. 
47 — 9. 



ARABIA. 101 

had been agreed on, when intelligence was brought to 
Saoud of the death of his father, which compelled him 
precipitately to return to Daraieh, lest any rival 
should dispute the succession. Abduluziz, while at 
prayers in one of the mosques of his capital, was, like 
Ali, assassinated by an Arab, whose daughter he had 
forcibly carried away many years before ; on which 
the Arab had sold all his property, and perse- 
veringly tracked the footsteps of his oppressor, till he 
found the opportunity of satiating his long-cherished 
revenge. 

By the retreat of Saoud, Djidda was for the time 
saved, and Mekka again fell under the dominion 
of its shereef; but Tayif remained in the hands of 
Mozeife. In 1804, Medinah, with the accumulated 
treasure of ages, became a prey to the Wahhabees, and 
the tomb of the prophet shared the fate of those 
of his descendants. Djidda M'as again attacked, but 
without success : the shereef had received succours 
from Egypt. Yambo fell, but was retaken by a naval 
force. The Pasha of Syria forced his way that year 
through the undisciplined troops of the Wahhabees 
and the usual ceremonies were performed by the 
faithful at the Kaaba. But since then, several years 
have passed without its being practicable for the pil- 
grims to visit the holy city, owing to the flyino- 
squadrons of the enemy. The great caravan from 
Damascus in 1805, could not obtain a passage, but by 
heavy sacrifices ; and Saoud signified to the Emir 
Hajji, or prince of the pilgrims, (as the Pasha of 
Damascus is styled,) that the caravan should no 
longer come under the protection of the Turks or 
bring the rich carpet that the Grand Seignior sends 
every year to cover the sepulchre of the prophet ; a 
thing looked upon as a great sin by the Wahhabees. 
In short, he required that the whole caravan should 
be composed absolutely of pilgrims alone, without 

vol. i. 9* 



102 ARABIA. 

troops, arms, flag, or any other trophies or orna- 
ments, and without music or women. Notwith- 
standing this declaration of Saoud, the caravan of 
Damascus wished to make the pilgrimage the fol- 
lowing year (1806), without strictly conforming to the 
ordinances of the conqueror; but it had hardly arrived 
at the gates of Medinah, when it was obliged to 
retire in disorder, persecuted and annoyed by the 
Wahhabees, who occupied the city and the neigh- 
bourhood. 

The political situation of the country in January 
1807, the time at which Badhia visited Mekka, was 
highly critical. The sultan-shereef had remained 
the natural and immediate sovereign of the Hedjaz, 
and the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Grand Seignior 
was still publicly recognised in the sermon on Fri- 
days, in spite of Saoud's prohibition to introduce his 
name into the service. The shereef still preserved, 
also, some influence in the Arabian ports, as well as 
at Kosseir, and even on the coasts of Abyssinia, in 
the name of the Grand Seignior. The Porte continued 
to send a pasha to Djidda, who passed his time at 
Mekka in eating at the expense of the shereef, with- 
out performing any act of authority, so that his 
existence was almost unknown. Djidda, Mekka, and 
Medinah received, also, each its kadi from Constan- 
tinople, but their functions were purely judicial. The 
Sultan Saoud had not yet made himself master of the 
government ; he exacted no contributions, and ap- 
peared even to respect the authority of the shereef, 
although the latter felt, himself compelled to conform 
to the orders and regulations issued by the Wahhab- 
ite sovereign. There was not a consul or agent of 
any foreign nation in the country. Such was the 
state of things, when, on the 26th of February 1807, 
the Sultan Saoud issued orders, which were pro- 
claimed in all public places, that all pilgrims and sol- 
diers, Turkish as well as Moggrebin, belonging to 



ARABIA. 103 

the shereef, should quit Mekka on the afternoon of 
the following day, preparatory to their being sent out 
of Arabia. This order extended to the Turkish pasha, 
and both the old and new kadies of Mekka, Medinah, 
and the other places, so that not a single Turk was 
to remain in the country. The shereef was disarmed, 
his authority annihiliated, and the judicial power 
passed into the hands of the Wahhabees. All the 
Turkish soldiers retired to Djidda during the night. 
Of the negro soldiers, 250 went over to the service of 
Saoud, and the rest left on the 28th. It was given 
out, that the sultan would himself accompany the 
rear-guard of the troop of pilgrims as far as the fron- 
tiers of Syria, and then return to establish his resi- 
dence at Mekka, or at least give the government of 
the sacred territory to one of his sons. Accordingly, 
having installed his kadies, and left a large sum to be 
distributed as alms among the servants of the temple 
and the poor of the city, he directed his course w r ith 
his troops to Medinah ; and thus this political revo- 
lution terminated, without a drop of blood being 
shed. 

Since then (A.D. 1815), Mekka has again changed 
its master, having been conquered by Mohammed 
Ali, Pasha of Egypt. In whose hands it is at pre- 
sent, we know not. The possession of this isolated 
and defenceless town, with its barren territory, is of 
no further consequence, than as it gives the shadow 
of a title to the ecclesiastical supremacy, and as a re- 
venue is derived from the contributions levied on the 
pilgrims who repair to the Kaaba. So much, however, 
have the security and the 'eclat of these pious expedi- 
tions been diminished, that the trading part is likely 
to be diverted into other channels, and, in that case, 
the pilgrimage would lose at least half its attractions. 
It is a pity that the Wahhabees have not long ago 
carried off the black stone, filled up the well Zeinzem, 
and overturned the Kaaba. But Islamism has re- 



104 . ARABIA. 

ceived its death-blow from the sword of Saoud, and 
Arabia is for ever lost to the pretended successor of 
the prophet. The most powerful person in the coun- 
try, next to the Sultan of Daraiyeh, at the period of 
Ali Bey's visit, was Abou Nokhta, ' grand Sheikh of 
Yemen.' The Imaum of Mascat was dependant on 
Saoud ; the Bahhrein Islands, with the pearl fishery, 
were also under his dominion ; and he was extending 
his power on the great desert between Damascus, 
Bagdadt, and Bassora. Mokha, Sanaa, and other 
walled towns in Yemen, were still exempted from his 
authority; but the little state of Aden alone appeared 
to possess, in the wisdom of its sovereign and the 
bravery of his troops, the means of resisting the 
Wahhabite despotism. 

c The Wahhabees,' says Ali Bey, l have no mili- 
tary organisation. All their tactics consist in forming 
themselves into squadrons, under the direction of a 
chief, and in following his movements, without order, 
and without forming ranks ; but their discipline is 
truly Spartan, and their obedience extreme. Their 
civil organisation is in no better state than their 
military: they have no person in office, nor any supe- 
rior or inferior courts. Each sheikh is responsible 
for the payment of the tenth,' (the tribute imposed 
by' the Koran, which Saoud continued to exact,) 
' and for furnishing the contingent of troops in time 
of war. Saoud sends kadies to the towns subject 
to his dominion, but he has no pashas, vizirs, or 
other ministers. The reformer, Abdoul Wehhab, 
did not invest himself with any honour or public cha- 
racter: he was only the chief of the sect, and did not 
require any personal distinction. After his death, 
his son, who succeeded him, preserved the same sim- 
plicity.' 

Such a power as this contains within itself the seeds 
of dissolution. The physical character of the country 
could alone render the Wahhabees powerful. Well 



ARABIA. 105 

/ 

does their character correspond to the language of 
prophecy, that Ishmael shall be c a wild man ; his 
hand will be against every man, and every man's hand 
will be against him, and he shall dwell in the presence 
of his brethren. ' # Enemies alike to commerce, to 
agriculture, and the arts,| consuming less than they 
destroy, and producing less than they consume, reli- 
giously opposed to the luxuries and refinements of 
civilized society, these austere and fierce barbarians 
present the phenomenon of the people in the primitive 
stage of civilisation, dwelling in the presence of all 
their brethren, unsubdued and unchangeable, — chil- 
dren of the desert, hostile towards all the rest of the 
human race, — /yet, in their acknowledgment of the 
true God, and their singular zeal against every ap- 
proach to idolatry, seeming still to bear the mark of 
their ancestry as the children of Abraham. 

But we must now proceed to take a nearer view of 
the topography, population, and scenery of this sin- 
gular country ; and we shall first conduct the reader 
across the desert, from Suez to the consecrated pre- 
cincts of Sinai. 

PENINSULA OF MOUNT SINAI. 

The Travellers with whom we are now about to 
explore the wilderness of Sinai, are Niebuhr (1762), 
Mr Fazakerley (1811), Burckhardt (1816), and Sir 
Frederick Henniker (1820). The hajji route from 

* Gen. xvi, 12. 

t The sale of chaplets made of odoriferous sandal-wood, 
formed a very lucrative branch of commerce at Mekka. The 
Wahhabite sovereign prohibited the manufacture, condemning 
the use of them as superstitious. Coffee, the principal article 
of cultivation in Yemen, and tobacco, are both prohibited ar- 
ticles. Their religious antipathy to monumental architecture 
has been but too savagely demonstrated at Mekka and at Im- 
aum Hossein. 



106 ARABIA. 

* 

•Cairo is altogether overland, but Christians were for- 
bidden, when Niebuhr travelled, to take this sacred 
route, and embarked at Suez for Djidda. The desert 
from Cairo to Suez is crossed by three different 
routes ; — the great hajji route ; a route pursued by 
the Syrian Bedoweens, close along the mountains ; 
and the route called derb al ankaby, taken by the 
Bedoweens of Tor, which lies midway between the 
hajji route and the most southerly one. The middle 
track was taken by Burckhardt, and he supposes, 
that before Nechos dug the canal between the Nile 
and the Red Sea, the communication between Arsinoe 
and Memphis may have been carried on this way, as 
several spots occur, which are now covered with 
petrified trees, and have probably been stations. The 
desert of Suez is never inhabited by BedoweeU en- 
campments, though it is full of rich pasture and pools 
of water during the winter and spring. The reason 
assigned is, that no strong tribes frequent the eastern 
borders of Egypt, and a weak, insulated encampment 
would soon be stripped of its property by nightly 
robbers. The ground is the patrimony of no tribe, 
but, contrary to the general custom of the desert, is 
common to all. 

Suez, in the time of Niebuhr, was not enclosed. 
There is now a wall on the west and south-west, 
which is rapidly falling to decay : the eastern part is 
completely in ruins, but near the shore are some 
well-built khans, and in the inhabited part of the 
town are several good private houses. The harbour 
is spacious and safe. Its aspect is that of an Arabian, 
not an Egyptian town. Even in the barren waste 
that surrounds it, it resembles Yambo and Djidda; 
and the greater part of the shopkeepers are Syrians 
or Arabs. Neither merchants nor artisans live in it. 
Its population, Burckhardt says, consists only of 
about a dozen agents, who receive goods from the 
ports of the Red Sea, and forward them to their cor- 



ARABIA. 101 

respondents at Cairo; together with some shopkeepers 
who deal in provisions. ' As Suez is one of the few 
harbours in the Red Sea where ships can be repaired, 
some vessels are constantly to be seen at the wharf 
where the repairs are carried on by Greek shipwrights 
in the service of the pasha; but it has of late become 
a harbour of secondary importance, the supplies of 
provisions, &c, for the hedjaz being collected chiefly 
at Kosseir, whence they are shipped for Yambo and 
Djidda: the trade in coffee and India goods still 
passes this way to Cairo.'* The air of the town is 
bad, owing to the extensive salt marshes on the north 
and north-east, which are filled with stagnant waters 
by the tides. The inhabitants endeavour to coun- 
teract the influence of the malaria by drinking brandy; 
but the mortality is not diminished by such a remedy, 
and fevers of a malignant kind prevail during the 
spring and summer. At Suez, there is not a Sngle 
spring. The water of the wells of N aba, two leagues 
distant, though called sweet, has a very indifferent 
taste, and becomes putrid after being kept in skins 
for a few days. < Nothing,' says Mr Fazakerley, 
'can look more desolate and deplorable then Suez: 
a few houses built of mud and wood, and bounded by 
the desert and the sea; not a blade of grass or the 
leaf of a tree in sight. Crowds of vultures were 
feeding on the carcases of mules, horses, and camels, 
as we approached the town.' All the provisions are 
brought from Cairo, except dried fruits from Ghaza, 
and a few dates and other fruits in autumn, together 
with charcoal from Mount Sinai. ]' 

* In 1817, a small fleet of English ships arrived at Suez 
direct from Bombay, being an attempt on the part of the pasha 
to open a direct trade between India and Enypt. 

t Yet, Sir F. IJenniker styles the situation of Suez l beauti- 
ful,' and the place * tolerable even as a Turkish town:' were 
it in other hands, he says, it would be delightful. ' The Red 
Sea appears here as a lake girded with rock!' Thus do tra- 
vellers differ! 



108 ARABIA. 

It is a passage of twenty-four hours across the Red 
Sea to Tor, — a journey by land of three days. The 
precise spot at which the Israelites crossed, it is, per- 
haps, impossible precisely to determine. The natives 
point out indifferently the valley of Bedeah, the pas- 
sage from Suez across the narrow arm of the sea 
which runs up to the port, and other points of the 
coast further southward, Opposite Jlyoun Mousa and 
the Hammam Faraoun. The learned Traveller, Dr 
Shaw, objects against the opinion which £.xes the 
passage opposite Jlyoun Motttct, that there is not suf- 
ficient depth of water there to drown so many Egyp- 
tians, — an objection which would seem to apply with 
still greater force to the opinion of Niebuhr, who 
fixes upon Suez as the point at which they crossed. 
But the fact is, that the waters have retired, and the 
coral shoals have increased so much in every part of 
the gulf, that no decisive argument can be built 
on the present shallowness of the water.* The Gulf 

* « The arm of the sea which runs up before Suez, appears 
at first sight to be only of the breadth of a river, in comparison 
with the open sea, and too small, therefore, to have been cho- 
sen by the Almighty as the scene of the manifestation of his 
power. I therefore thought at first, that the children of Israel 
must have passed the Red Sea some leagues southward of 
Suez. But, on measuring the breadth of the gulf near the 
town, I found it 1,514 paces (3,500 feet,) and further north, 
it is still wider. This led me to change my opinion. If the 
children of Israel passed the sea at Kolsoum, the miracle would, 
indeed, be less than if they crossed it near Bedeah. But it is a 
mistake to suppose that the multitude could cross here without 
a prodigy; for even in the present day, no caravan crosses here 
to go from Cairo to Mount Sinai, notwithstanding that it would 
materially shorten the distance. It must naturally have been 
more difficult to the Israelites thousands of years ago, when the 
gulf was probably broader and deeper, and extended further 
northward. It has been objected, however, that, if the Israel- 
ites had crossed the Red Sea near Suez, Pharoah might easily 
have doubled the point and overtaken them; but we cannot 
ascertain how far northward the gulf might then extend. Pha- 
roah does not appear to me to have been senseless in wishing 



ARABIA, 109 

of Suez, Niebuhr says, undoubtedly extended further 
north ages ago than it does at present. In former 
times, ships entered the harbour of Kolsoum, which 
stood higher up than Suez, but, in consequence of the 
retreat of the waters, that harbour was deserted, and 
Suez, which was not in existence towards the end of 
the fifteenth century, rose on its ruins. Niebuhr 
crossed the creek at low water on his camel, near the 
supposed ruins of Kolsoum, and the Arabs, who 
attended him on foot, were only up to their knees; 
but no caravan, he says, could pass here without great 
inconvenience, and certainly not dry-foot.* Nor 
could the Israelites, he remarks, have availed them- 
selves of any coral rocks, as they are so sharp that 
they would have cut their feet Moreover if we 
suppose that the agency of the tides was employed by 
Divine Providence in favouring the passage of the 
Israelites, the east wind which, blowino- all night 
divided the waters of the gulf in the middle, pre- 
serving a body of water above and below, and layino- 
bare the channel between the walls, — was clearly 
supernatural. The wind here constantly blows six 

-to cross the sea at Suez, where, perhaps, the channel was 
only half a league in breadth, after he had seen the Israelites 
go over; but he would have been wanting in prudence, if, after 
having seen so many prodigies in Egypt, he had entered a sea 
three leagues and more in extent; and all the Egyptians must 
have been out of their minds, to have been willing to pursue 
the Israelites through such a sea. ' — Niebuhr, Description 
de I Arable, pp. 353, 4. See also his Voyage en Arable 
torn, i, p. 204; and Calmer 8 Diet. &y Taylor, Fra<*. xxxix' 
vol. iii, p. 66. ° ' 

* When I-'urckhardt left Suez, the tide was at flood, and 
he was obliged to make the tour of the whole creek, which 
he says, < at low water can be forded;' but, « in winter time' 
and immediately after the rainy season, the circuit is rendered 
still greater, because the low grounds to the northward of the 
creek are then inundated, and become so swampy that the 
camels cannot pass them.' He rode for an hour and three 
quarters in a straight line northwards, before he turned to the 
east. 

VOL. I. 10 



110 ARABIA. 

months north and six months south.* And as this 
unprecedented ebb of the waters must have been pre- 
ternatural, not less so was the sudden tempestuous 
reflux by which the Egyptians were overwhelmed. 
Perhaps a thick fog, it is suggested, might hasten 
their destruction. The depth at high water now does 
not exceed from eight to ten feet, but the same 
causes which have enlarged the land on the eastern 
shore, have rendered the gulf shallower. The winds, 
blowing the sands of Arabia into the -Red Sea, are 
constantly forming shallows among the rocks, and 
threaten in time to fill up the gulf. 

Dr Shaw, however, displays his usual learning and 
ingenuity in fixing the passage of the Israelites oppo- 
site the desert of Shur. Supposing Rameses to have 
been Cairo, there are two roads, he remarks, by 
which the Israelites might have been conducted to 
Pihahhiroth on the coast; the one through the val- 
leys of Jendily, Rumeleah, and Baideah, which are 
bounded on each side by the mountains of the Lower 
Thebais; the other, more to the northward, having 
these mountains for several leagues on the right, and 
the desert on the left, till it turns through a remark- 
able breach or ravine in the northernmost range, 
into the valley of Baideah. The latter he presumes 
to have been the road taken by the Israelites. Suc- 
coth, the first station, signifies only a place of tents; 
and Etham, the second station, he considers as pro- 
bably on the edge of the mountainous district of the 

* ' The north-east monsoon prevails from the 15th of Octo- 
ber to the 15th of April, rendering the entrance of the Red Sea 
easy, which is impracticable during the opposite monsoon. 
These periodical winds have great influence on the height of 
the tides, so that the extremity of that arm which divides Suez 
from Arabia, may sometimes be passed on foot.' — Malte 
Brttn, vol. ii, p. 191. The exodus took place on the 15th of 
the month Nisan (the beginning of April), during the preva- 
lence, therefore, of the northern monsoon. 



ARABIA. Ill 

Lower Thebais. Here the Israelites were ordered to 
turn (from their line of march), and encamp before 
Pihahhiroth, i. e. the mouth of the gullet or defile, 
betwixt Migdol and the sea.* This valley, he sup- 
poses to be identified with that of Baideah, which 
signifies miraculous, and it is also still called Tiah Beni 
Israel, the road of the Israelites. Baal-tzephon, over 
against which they encamped, is supposed to be the 
mountain still called Jebel Attakkah, the mountain of 
deliverance. Over against Jebel Jlitakhah, at ten 
miles' distance, is the desert of Sdur, or Shur, where 
the Israelites landed. | This part of the gulf would, 
therefore, be capacious enough to cover a numerous 
army,J and yet, might be traversed by the Israelites 
in a night; whereas, from Cor ondel to Tor, the chan- 
nel is ten or twelve leagues broad, which is too great 
a distance to have been travelled by a multitude with 
such incumbrances, and the passage from Suez appears 
as much too short. Having once entered this valley, 
it might well be said, that the wilderness had c shut 
them in,' inasmuch as the mountains of Mokattem 
would deny them a passage to the southward; those 
in the neighbourhood of Suez would be a barrier 
to the northward, towards the land of the Philistines; 
the Red Sea was before them to the east, while 
Pharoah with his army closed up the defile behind 
them. The valley ends in a small bay formed by the 
eastern extremities of the mountains. § 

The Arabian Gulf is supposed to derive its Hebrew 
name, Yam Suf, from the algce and fuel with which 

* Exod. xiv, i. + Exod. xv, 22. 

X The Israelites amounted to 600,000 men, besides children 
and a mixed multitude; and the army of Pharoah, which in- 
cluded 600 chosen chariots, could not have been less nume- 
rous. 

§ Shaw's Travels, folio, pp. 344 — 6, and Supplem. p. 98. 



112 ARABIA. 

the sea abounds, by which the ancients accounted for 
its remarkably green colour, sw/* being rendered weed, 
reed, or any submarine plant. JDr Shaw, however, 
says, he nowhere observed any species of the flag 
kind ; M. Forskal denies that any reeds grow on the 
shore ; and Mr Bruce says, that he never saw a weed 
of any sort in it. The opinion of the latter writer is, 
that 'it is from the large trees, or plants, of ivhite 
coral, spread every where over the bottom of the Red 
Sea, that the sea has obtained this name,' which he 
proposes to translate, the Sea of Coral % Against this 
it is objected, that the proper word for coral is 
rtimuih;* but the meaning of that term has been 
disputed. The name by which the gulf is invariably 
designated in the Old Testament, is stilbpreserved in 
the Arabic appellation, Bahr Sonf. It is also called 
Bahr el Kolsoum, the Sea of Kolsoum (the Greek 
Clysma), which signifies drowning, or overwhelming, 
and seems to allude to the destruction of the Egyp- 
tians. By the Septuagi nt, the original word is ren- 
dered Qxhccs-o-06 ~Ztp y the Sea of Ziph,| Egv&gct QaXacro-M, 

the Erythrean Sea, J and ia-^xmv 0xXctcrcrav, the fur- 
thest sea.§ The latter, it has been contended by some, 
is the true meaning of the Hebrew, suph sometimes 
signifying limit, boundary, or extremity; and this sea 
is repeatedly mentioned in Scripture as the boundary 
of the possessions of Israel. |j At what time it re- 
ceived the name of the Sea of Edom, is uncertain; but 
this* is believed to be the name which the Greeks, 
mistaking a proper name for an appellative, rendered 
the Erythrean, or Red Sea, Pliny and Pomponius 

* Job xxviii, 18. Ezek, xxvii, 16. f Judges xi, 16. 

t Exod. xiii, 18, et passim. § 1 Kings ix, 26. 

II Exod. xxiii, 31. Num. xxxiv, 3. Psalm Ixxii, 8. See 
Harris's Nat. Hist, of the Bible, Art. Flag. But query, 
whether this be not only a secondary meaning of the word suf, 
(i. e. post, or stake,) and not likely to be applied to a sea ? 



ARABIA. 113 

Mela state, that it obtained this name from a King 
Erythros who reigned in Arabia, and whose tomb 
was to be seen in the island Tyrine, or Agyris. This 
king is plausibly supposed to be no other than Edom, 
or Esau; and the Sea of Suf (or Zuf) is expressly 
said to have been in the land of Edom.* Its western 
branch is, by the Greek and Latin geographers, styled 
the Gulf of Heroopolis and the Sea of Clysma,! from 
the towns on its western shore. The Erythrean Sea 
is the name applied by the Greeks to all the seas 
round the Arabian peninsula; but the Red Sea is 
now understood as exclusively denoting the Arabian 
Gulf. We shall have further occasion to advert to 
the dangers of the navigation; but, while we are 
adverting to its many names, it may be as well to 
mention, that in calm weather, according to Forskal, 
the bottom of the gulf, l covered with a carpet of 
greenish coral,' presents a resemblance to f a series 
of verdant submarine forests and meadows, affording 
an agreeable contrast to the gloomy uniformity of 
arid and sandy country by which it is encircled.' 
Well may it be called, then, the Coral Sea. 

We shall now proceed to avail ourselves of Burck- 
hardt's journal of his tour in the peninsula of Sinai. 
He left Suez early on the 25th of April, 1816, attended 
by his guide and another Arab. After passing seve- 
ral mounds of rubbish, which afford no object of 
curiosity except ( a few large stones, supposed to be 
the ruins of Clysma, or of ArsinoeJ, he rode north- 
ward for an hour and three quarters, and then turned 

* 1 Kings ix, 26; 2 Chron. viii, 17. 

t Clysma, or Kolsoum, is placed by Niebuhr at Suez; but 
Shaw supposes Suez to be the ancient Arsinoe. 

$ Probably the remains of < the castle which the Turks 
built upon' (or from) « the ruins of the ancient Kolsoum,' 
— referred to by Niebuhr, who says, that of Kolsoum con 
siderablo ruins still remain to the north of Suez. 

VOL. I. 10* 



114 ARABIA. 

to the east, 'just at the point where the remains 
of the ancient canal are very distinctly visible.' Two 
swellings of the ground, about eight or ten feet high, 
run in parallel directions, at the distance of about 
twenty-five feet: they begin at a few hundred paces 
to the N.W. of high-water mark, whence the ground 
northward is covered with a saline crust. Having 
turned the point of the inlet, our Traveller halted for 
a short time at the wells of Ayoun Mousa, under the 
date trees, and then, proceeding two hours and three 
quarters further, rested in the plain called El KLord- 
hye. 'The water of the wells of Ayoun Mousa 
(the springs of Moses) is copious, but one only affords 
sweet water, and this is so often rendered muddy by 
the passage of Arabs, whose camels descend into 
the wells, that it is seldom fit to supply a provision to 
the traveller, much less for shipping.'* 

The next day, proceeding in a direction S. by £.. 
and then S.S.E., over a barren, sandy, and gravelly 
plain, called El Mtha, he halted, at the end of four 
hours and a half, in a dry and shallow wady, called 
Wady Seder, and, in three hours further, reached 
Wady Wardan, at the extremity of which is the well 
of Abou Szoueyra, half an hour from the sea-shore, 
containing good water. Low mountains, the com- 
mencement of the chain of Tyh, inhabited by the 
Terabein Arabs, run parallel with the road, at the 
distance of about eight miles to the left. Near Ahon 
Szoueyra, a chain of sand-hills begins to the west, 
near the sea, and the eastern mountains approaching 
the road, form, about two hours further, a junction 
with these hills. At ten hours, the road enters the 
hilly country, consisting of chalk and silex in very 
irregular strata; and at the end of ten hours and 

* < These pretended fountains are five holes in the sand, in 
a well of very indifferent water, that becomes turbid whenever 
any of it is drawn.' — Niebuhk. 



ARABIA. 115 



three quarters, Burckhardt rested for the nio-ht in a 
barren valley called Wady Jlmara. 

At an hour and three-quarters from his resting- 
place he passed, the next day, the well of Howara, 
round which grow a few date-trees, but the water of 
which is so bitter, that men cannot drink it; and 
even camels, if not very thirsty, refuse to taste it. 
.broni AyounMousa to the well of Howara,' con- 
tinues Burckhardt, < we had travelled fifteen hours 
and a quarter. Referring to this distance, it appears 
probable that this is the desert of three days, men- 
tioned in the Scriptures to have been crossed by the 
Israelites immediately after their passing the Red 
K3ea, and at the end of which they arrived at Marah. 
In moving with a whole nation, the march may well 
be supposed to have occupied three days; and the 
bitter well at Marah, which was sweetened by Moses, 
corresponds exactly to that of Howara. This is the 
usual route to Mount Sinai, and was probably, there- 
fore, that which the Israelites took on their escape 
from Egypt, provided' it he admitted, that they crossed 
ike sea near Suez, as Niebuhr with good reason con- 
jectures. There is no other road of three days' march 
in the way from Suez towards Sinai; nor is there any 
other well absolutely bitter on the whole of this coast 
as far as Ras Mohammed. The complaints of the 
bitterness of the water by the children of Israel, who 
had been accustomed to the sweet water of the Nile 
are such as may daily be heard from the Egyptian 
servants and peasants who travel in Arabia. Accus- 
tomed from their youth to the excellent water of the 
Nile, there is nothing which they so much reo-ret 
in countries distant from Egypt. With respect to 
the means employed by Moses to render the waters of 
the well sweet, I have frequently inquired among the 
Bedouins in different parts of Arabia, whether they 
possessed any means of effecting such a change by 



H6 ARABIA. 

throwing wood into it, or by any other process; but 
I never could learn that such an art was known. 

< At the end of three hours we reached Wady (xha- 
rendel, which extends to the N.E., and is almost a 
mile in breadth, and full of trees. The Arabs told 
me, that it may be traced through the whole desert, 
and that it begins at no great distance from El Ansn 
on the Mediterranean; but I had no means of ascer- 
taining the truth of the statement. About halt an 
hour from the place where we halted, in a southern 
direction, is a copious spring with a small rivulet, 
which renders the valley the principal station on this 
route. The water is disagreeable, and, if kept for a 
night in the water-skins, it turns bitter, and spoils, 
as I have myself experienced, having passed this way 
three times. If we admit Bir How ar a to be the 
Marah of Exodus (xv. 23), then Wady Gharendel is 
probably Elim, with its wells and date trees; <"i opi- 
nion entertained by Niebuhr, who, however, did not 
see the bitter well of Howara. (It lies among hills, 
about 200 paces out of the road. ) The non-existence 
at present of twelve wells at Gharendel, must not be 
considered as evidence against this conjecture; ior 
Niebuhr says, that his companions obtained water 
here by digging to a very small depth, and there was 
a great plenty of it when I passed. Water, in fact, 
is readily found by digging, in every fertile valley in 
Arabia, and wells are thus easily formed, which are 
quickly filled up again by the sands. The Wady 
Gharendel contains date-trees, tamarisks, acacias ot 
different species, and the thorny shrub gharkad, (the 
peganum retusum of Forskal,) which is extremely 
common in this peninsula, and is also met with m 
the sands of the Delta on the coast of the Mediter- 
ranean. Its small red l>erry, of the size of a grain o 
the pomegranate, is very juicy and refreshing, much 
resembling a ripe gooseberry in taste, but not so 
sweet. The Arabs are very fond of it, and make a 



ARABIA. 117 

conserve of the berries. The gharkad, which, from 
the colour of its fruit, is also called homra, delights 
in a sandy soil, and reaches its maturity in the height 
of summer, when the ground is parched up, exciting 
an agreeable surprise in the traveller at finding so 
juicy a berry produced in the driest soil and season.* 
The bottom of the valley swarms with ticks, which 
are extremely distressing both to men and beasts, and 
on this account the caravans usually encamp on the 
sides of the hills.' 

Br Shaw, however, who differs from Mebuhr in 
fixing the passage of the Israelites at Baideah, and in 
landing them opposite the Jehel Mtahhah in the de- 
sert ofShur, fixes Marah at Corondel; the same place 
that Niebuhr writes Girondtl, and Burckhardt Gha- 
rendel. Here, he says, < is a small rill of water, 
which, unless it be diluted with the dews and rains, 
stiU continues to be brackish.' Burckhardt bears 
testimony to the disagreeableness and impurity of the 
water. Near this place, the sea forms a large bay 
called Berk el Corondel, into which a strong current 
sets in from the northward. The desert in this 
neighbourhood, according to Dr Shaw, is still called 
Marah, (Morra, in Arabic, means bitter) — a cir- 

* Burckhardt suggests, that possibly the berry of this shrub 
may be what Moses used to sweeten the waters of Marah, and 
that it may have the same effect as the juice of pomegranates. 
He did not observe any of this shrub, however, near Kowara; 
nor did he submit the water to any experiment. The wood 
which God showed Moses, is called alvah. A modern Tra- 
veller in South America, speaks of a shrub called alumbre, a 
branch of which, put into the muddy stream of the Magda- 
lena, precipitated the mud and earth, leaving the water sweet 
and clear. — See Mod. Trav., Colombia, p. 289. The first 
discoverers of the Floridas are said to have corrected the 
stagnant and fetid water they found there, by infusing in it 
branches of sassafras; and it is understood, that the first use 
of tea among the Chinese, was, to correct the waters of their 
ponds and rivers. 



118 ARABIA. 



cumstance which requires only to be verified, to 
determine the disputed locality. In placing Marah at 
Corondel, he contends that he is justified by its dis- 
tance from Sedur or Shur, which answers to three 
such days' journeys as he supposes the Israelites 
would make. We have seen that Burckhardt makes 
it only sixteen hours and a half from Ayoun Mousa, 
and about ten hours from Wady Seder (Shur), which 
is little more than one ordinary day's journey (eight 
hours). According to the oriental mode of calcula- 
tion, however, we have no reason to suppose that the 
Israelites travelled three whole days from Shur before 
they found water, (which is not at all probable) but 
that they did not find water till the third day, which, 
according to European reckoning, would be some time 
on the second •* and five hours (from fifteen to 
eighteen miles) is perhaps as great a distance as, with 
women and children, they can be supposed to have 
travelled in a day. To remove Elim as far north as 
Corondel, is, Dr Shaw contends, unreasonable: tor 
no station,' he says, < could have been better or 
more circumstantially marked out than this, or has 
preserved greater tokens of the circumstances ot its 
ancient situation. We are told that, at Elim, there 
were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten 
palm-trees, and that they encamped or pitched there 
bv the waters. Now at Corondel, we do not find (as 
far as I saw or could learn) the traces of any wells at 
all; neither is there any grove or collection of palm- 
trees Whereas, in the neighbourhood of Tor, there 
is a regular and delightful plantation of palm-trees, 
equal to any in the date country of the Tumseens. 
For the threescore and ten have, m process of time, 
improved themselves into more than two thousand. 

* Thus, our Lord is reckoned to have lain three days and 
three nights, (part of three twenty-four hours) in the grave- 
Compare alao Esther iv, 16, with v, 1. 



ARABIA. 119 



The wells, which are ranged along a narrow vale near 
the grove, are, indeed, a little diminished in number; 
yet, even those nine of them that remain to this day 
(as so many are nowhere found together in any other 
part of Arabia,) are sufficient to attest for the possi- 
bility of there having been once a greater number. 
Under the shade of these trees is the Hammam Mou'sa 
(bath of Moses), which the inhabitants of Tor have in 
extraordinary esteem and veneration; acquainting us, 
that it was here that Moses himself and his peculiar 
household were encamped.'* The spot alluded to 
is two leagues from Tor, and nearly thirty from 
Corondel, on the northern skirts of the desert of Sin. 
As the Israelites did not leave Elim and enter this 
desert till the fifteenth day of the second month (i. e. 
about a month after the passover), its distance better 
agrees with the narrative of their journeyings, than 
that of Wady Gharendd, which is only an hour and a 
quarter from Howara. 

From Wady Gharendel, Burckhardt proceeded in a 
b.S.K direction over an open hilly country, and in an 
hour and a half reached Wady Oszaitu (Niebuhr 
writes it Usaitu), enclosed by chalk hills, where there 
is another bitter well, which is sometimes dry: a few 
date-trees stand near it.| Two hours and a quarter 

* Shaw, p. 350, and Sup. p. 104. 

t From Girondel, Niebuhr proceeded half a mile to the S.W., 
through some little woods, over hills and through valleys;' 
then, turning southward, crossed a plain near the sea, and 
arrived, at the end of three quarters of a mile, at Hammam 
laraoun. 'This bath,' he says, « has two openings in the 
rock, close to each other, and is about ten feet above the level 
ot the sea. A hot and powerful sulphurous vapour rises from 
it, and the water, which issues in several places from the bot- 
tom oi the rock, is so hot that you can hardly hold your finger 
in it. J. hey pretend that there are often sick persons in this 
bath who, by the help of cords, descend into the above-men- 
tioned openings, and bathe themselves for forty days in the 
Hot water, during. which they subsist almost entirely on a 



220 ARABIA. 

further, S. E. by S.,is Wacly Thole, where are found 
date-trees, acacias, and tamarisks. Rock salt abounds 
here as well as in Gharendel. Proceeding southward, 
he turned the point of the mountain, part of the chain 
extending towards Gharendel, and passed the rude 
tomb of a female saint called Arys Themman (the 
bridegroom of Themman) , where the Arabs are in the 
habit of saying a short prayer, and suspending some 
rags of clothing upon some poles planted round the 
tomb. After having doubled the mountain, he en- 
tered the valley of Wady Taybe, which descends 
rapidly to the sea. and in three quarters of an hour 
turned into a branch of it, running E.S.E. between 
steep calcareous cliffs, called Wady Shebeyke, where he 
halted for the night, after a day's journey of nine 
hours and a quarter. 

The fourth day, he proceeded at first E. by fe. to 
a high plain, surrounded with rocks, and having a 
towering mountain called Sarbout el Djemel on the 
N. side. In two hours and a half, he turned the point 
of 'this mountain, and entered Wady Hommar, running 
E. by N. At the end of four hours, he issued from 

fruit called lassaf, which abounds in this country. I know 
not what are the effects of this cure; but I saw in the neigh- 
bourhood a pretty large cemetery. If you will believe the 
Arabs, the king Pharaoh who perished in the Red Sea, is now 
in the abyss which sends up the hot water and sulphurous 
vapour of the bath; and not only the bath, but a part also of 
the Arabian Gulf, which is still called Birket Faraoun, and 
which at certain seasons is very tempestuous, is named after 
that monarch. The eastern shore of the gulf, from Suez to 
Djebel Hammam Faraoun, is flat, with the exception ot 
the little hills which are seen here and there; but the western 
coast is full of high mountains, which are separated by only 
two great valleys; the one opposite the plain of El Ty, the 
other opposite to Girondel.' Vol. i, p. 184. On leaving the 
place, this Traveller entered a winding valley, which led him 
now northward, now eastward, then to the south and west, till 
he reached Wady Usaitu. 



ARABIA. 121 

this valley, where the southern rocks terminate, and 
proceeded over one of those sandy plains called El 
Uebbe, till, m two hours and a half further, he entered 
a mountainous country much devastated . by torrents 
Here sandstone rocks begin. Following the windings 
of a valley he reached, in seven hours and a quarter, 
YVady el JYaszeh, where he rested < under the shade 
of a large impending rock, which for ages, probably, 
has afforded shelter to travellers.' He supposes it to 
be the same that Niebuhr speaks of, who calls this 
valley the plain of Warsan* This may, he says, be 
its rue name, but the Arabs comprise all the contiguous 
valleys under the general name of IVaszeb. * Shady 
spots kke this are well known to the Arabs: and, as 
the scanty foliage of the acacia, the only tree in which 
these valleys abound, affords no shade, they take ad- 
vantage of such rocks, and regulate the day's journey 
in such a way as to be able to reach them at noon, 
there to take the siesta.f The main branch of the 
Wady ISaszeb continues further up to the S E and 
contains, at about half an hour from the place where 
we rested, a well of excellent water. The Wady 
empties its waters in the rainy season into the Gulf of 
• buez, at a short distance from the Birket Faraoun. 
I he rocks round the resting-place are much shattered 
and broken, evidently by torrents ; yet, no torrents 

«1 * T1 l e fo u rth day from Ayoun Mousa, Niebuhr rested in the 
plain oi Warsan, < under a little rock in which a great num- 
ber ot Greeks, who had gone on pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, 
had carved their names.' Whether this is the rock to which 
tfurckhardt alludes, seems doubtful. On walking round the 
rock the latter was surprised to find inscriptions similar in form 
to those found in Wady Mokatteb, on the surface of blocks 
which have fallen down from the cliff. They have evidently 
been done m haste, and are very rudely scratched on the sand- 
stone rock. A few rude drawings of camels and goats are 
likewise seen. & 

* SeePsal.lxi, 2. 

VOL. i. 11 



122 



AUAiBlA. 



■*Wn the memory of man have ever rushed down the 

and the bark is used by the Aiabs to urn 
From this soot, our traveller proceeded E. by b.,ana, 
jjiom mis spot, uu* r rpar h e( i the summit 

nt thp end of two hours and a nail, leacneu mo ^ 

^ of tanned fetnsrve view, bounded on the £tffc 
fey t chain of El Tyh, which ^»«|*f 
kernel, and extends in a curve t^ 01 ,^^ 
miles eastward from the termination of Wady « ornmal 
X the eastern extremity is a high mountain, cal ed 
ttSS Ocjl, to the north of which begins the ridge 
cal ed *H XMek a branch or contain ationof E 1 Tyh 
running eastward towards the Gulf of Akaba Thes 
Z ns form the northern boundaries of the Sina. 
™7n inland are the pasturing-places of the Sinai 
BedouTns.' They are the most regular «*-&*? 
peninsula being almost throughout of equal heignt, 
Sufany prominent peaks, ^^ " 
.minterruDted line eastwards, lhey aie iniuumou j 
uninteuupLBu ■•. t , „.i,_ t i 1P latter of whom 

the tribes Terabein and lyaha, tne lauei 
art richer in camels and flocks than any other of the 
Tow- tribes. The valleys of t"" 
said to afford excellent^ turage a dfi^e ^nn^s, 

though not in great "»^. b ^ tbe T aha have 
quently visit Cairo and Suez , but tj 
more intercourse with Ghaza and ^J"*^ >' 

and are a very bold independent people, often at war 
wUh roeir neighbours, and, even now, canng WW* 
the authority of the P-|ia of Egy p. At the southe, n 
foot of the mountain Ji.1 lyn, extenub ci u J , 

p°a n, called El Seyh, which begins at the »^ 
Litinues for two days' journey eastwards. It affords 
good pasturage in spring, but has no water, and is 
therefore little' frequented by the Bedoweens. 1 hese 



ARABIA. 123 

details, if not very important or interesting, will serve 
far better than vague general descriptions, to convey 
an idea of the nature of the country. 

The next day, crossing the plain of Rami Morak, 
Burckhardt reached, in an hour and a quarter, the 
upper chain of the mountains of Sinai, where the 
grunstein rocks begin, mixed in places with layers of 
granite ; and entered the valley of Wady Kliamyle. 
Here, on a projecting rock, he observed rude inscrip- 
tions and drawings similar to those of Wady Naszeb. 
At. the end of three hours, he passed a burial-ground 
of the Szowaleha Bedoweens ; the place is called 
Mokbera. It seems, he says, to be a custom prevalent 
among the Arabs in every part of the desert, to have 
regular burial-grounds, whither they carry their 
dead, sometimes from the distance of several days' 
journey;* so that these cemeteries by no means prove 
the former existence of a city in the vicinity. These 
rude tombs consist, for the most part, of niere heaps 
of earth covered with loose stones ; and in the midst 
of those of Mokbera is the tomb of a Bedoween saint, 
which is kept carefully covered with fresh herbs. In 
half an hour further, he began to ascend a steep valley 
called Wady Borate. Here, the rock changes to por- 
phyry with strata of grunstein. The mountains on 
both sides are much disintegrated, and the bot- 
tom of the valley is filled with loose fragments 
of rock. In two hours and three quarters he reached 
the summit of Djebel Leboua (the mountain of the 
lioness), from which he descended into a fine valley, 
several miles in breadth, called Wady Genne : it 
affords good pasturage, and abounds with odoriferous 
shrubs. The ranges of mountains in this part differ 
in their formation from most of the Arabian chains ; 
the valleys reach to the very summits, where they 
spread into a plain, and thence descend to the other 

* This may illustrate Gen. xxiii, and xlix, 29, 



124 ARABIA. 

side. To Wady Genne succeeded that of Wady 
JBerahy which is covered with sand ; and, at the end 
of ten hours and a half from Rami Morak, our Tra- 
veller alighted for the night at a Bedoween encamp- 
ment in the side valley of Wady Osh, Here there is 
a well of sweet water ; and < from hence upwards,' 
Burckhardt says, < and throughout the primitive 
chain of Mount Sinai, the water is generally excel- 
lent ; while, in the lower chalky mountains all around 
the peninsula, it is brackish, or bitter, except in one 
or two places.'* Blocks with inscriptions were con- 
tinually noticed in this and the next day's route. 

The sixth day, our Traveller did not leave the 
encampment of hospitable Bedoweens till the after- 
noon, and proceeded only four hours, to Wady el 
Sheikh (i. e. the great valley), one of the principal 
valleys of the peninsula. In the rainy season, this 
wady, collecting the waters of Wadys Osh and Berah, 
discharges a considerable stream into Wady Far an, 
and thence into the sea. It is much frequented for 
its pasturage. The next morning, ascending the 
valley, he reached, in two hours, a thick wood of 
tamarisk (tarfa), an evergreen shrub from which 
manna is collected : camels feed upon its thorny 
shoots. i We now approached,' says Burckhardt, 
* the central summits of Mount Sinai, which we had 
had in view for several days. Abrupt cliffs of granite, 
from six to eight hundred feet in height, whose sur- 
face is blackened by the sun, surround the avenues 
leading to the elevated platform to which the name of 
Sinai fs specifically applied. These cliffs enclose the 
holy mountain on three sides, leaving the east and 
north-east sides only, towards the Gulf of Akaba, 
more open to view. On both sides of the wood of 

* In Wady Osh, gneiss is mixed with granite. Native cin- 
nabar is said to be found in a mountain called Sheyger, a few 
horns to the N. E. 



ARABIA. 125 

tarfa-trees, extends a range of low hills, of a sub- 
stance called by the Arabs tafal, which I believe to 
be principally a detritus of the feldspar of granite, but 
which, at first sight, has all the appearance of pipe- 
clay : it is brittle, crumbles easily between the 
fingers, and leaves upon them its colour, which is 
a pale yellow. The Arabs sell it at Cairo, where it is 
in request for taking stains out of cloth, and where it 
serves the poor instead of soap, but it is chiefly used 
to rub the skins of asses during summer, to defend 
them against the heat of the sun. At the end 
of three hours, we entered the above-mentioned 
cliffs by a narrow defile about forty feet in breadth, 
with perpendicular rocks on both sides. The ground 
is covered with sand and pebbles, brought down 
by the torrent which rushes from the upper re- 
gion in the winter time. In- a broader part of the 
pass, an insulated rock about five feet high, with 
a kind of natural seat, is shown as a place upon which 
Moses once reposed, whence it has the name of Mokad 
Seidna Mousa. The Bedouins keep it covered with 
green or dry herbs, and some of them kiss it, or touch 
it with their hands in passing by. Beyond it the 
valley opens ; the mountains on both sides diverge 
from the road, and the Wady el Sheikh continues in 
a southerly direction with a slight ascent.' An hour 
beyond the defile, the route enters a narrow inlet in 
the eastern chain, and then, crossing the mountain, 
falls again into the Wady el Sheikh. At the end of 
eight hours, our Traveller reached the tomb of Sheikh 
•Szaleh; a small, rude stone building, surrounded with 
a thin wooden partition, hung with green cloth, on 
which several prayers are embroidered. On the 
walls are suspended silk tassels, handkerchiefs, os- 
trich eggs, camel halters, bridles, &c, the offerings of 
the Bedoweens, by whom this spot is the most revered 
m the peninsula, next to the mountain of Moses, 
vol. i. 11* 



|26 ARABIA. 

< Once a year, all the tribes of the Towara Arabs 
repair hither in pilgrimage, and remain encamped m 
the valley round the tomb for three days. The men 
and women are dressed in their best attire. Many 
sheep are then killed, camel races are run, and the 
whole night is passed in dancing and singing, lne 
festival, which is the greatest among this people, 
usually takes place in the latter part of June, when 
the Nile begins to rise in Egypt, and the plague sub- 
sides A caravan leaves Sinai immediately after- 
wards for Cairo. It is just at this period, too, that 
the dates ripen in the valleys of the lower chain 
of Sinai, and the pilgrimage to Sheikh Szaleh thus 
becomes the most remarkable period m the Bedouin 
year.'* From this tomb, our Traveller proceeded 
southward till, at the end of six hours and a half, he 
turned to the right into a broad valley, at the end of 
which he was agreeably surprised by the beautiful 
verdure of a garden of almond-trees belonging to the 
convent. In an hour beyond this he arrived at the 
convent itself, being the seventh day from Suez.j 

Sir Frederick Henniker descended the Red Sea to 
Tor, and reached Sinai from that part of the coast. 

* These pilgrimages are generally connected with mercantile 
speculations. Thus, the tomb of Nebby Osha (the prophet 
Hosea) nearSzalt, is transformed into a fair at the time of the 
visit of the pilgrims. In the winter season, scarcely any body 
seeks favours at the shrine of the saint. —See Burckhardt 
p. 354 Who this Sheikh Szaleh was, is uncertain : some will 
have him to have been the famous prophet Salah, mentioned in 
the Koran; others, with more probability, represented him as 
a local saint. Burckhardt says, the whole valley takes the 
name of el Sheikh from the tomb. 

t Mr Fazakerley, who crossed the Gulf of Suez above 
Ayoun Mousa, reached the convent on the sixth day. Nie- 
buhr crossed on the 6th of Sept. (1762), and did not reach the 
foot of Djebel Mousa till the 14th, but he went round by 
Wady Far an (the valley of Paran), and lost time on the 
road. 



ARABIA. 127 

He describes Tor as \ a wretched huttage, in the 
occupation of a few families drawn together by twelve 
springs of water and a grove of palm-trees: for any 
additional luxuries, they are indebted to a few boats 
that convey weary pilgrims to and from Mekka. The 
water is the best that is to be found on the coast, and 
on this account we see here a fortification, said to 
have been built by the Portuguese : it is now in 
decay. Tor,' adds this Traveller, < is supposed to be 
the ancient Ehm : the number of springs is still 
the same* but that of the palm-trees has increased. 
Ihe mountains east of Tor,' (seen from shipboard,) 
equal any scenery that I ever witnessed in rough 
and barren nature: they are Alps unclothed. About 
eight miles north from Tor, and within a short 
distance from the sea, is a phenomenon called the 
narkous, or bell, near which, so runs the tale, was 
seen a bodiless hand ringing a bell. Ever since that 
time, one of the gaps in the rock has chosen occa- 
sionally to utter miraculous sounds. The first notice 
of its anger is a gentle rumbling, which increases 
gradually till it shames the thunder; and in this state 
it will continue some hours, during which the sand 
performs an earthquake. In outward appearance, 
there is no difference between this and any other of 
the many neighbouring gaps, which are equally filled 
with sand.' This Traveller found the < grumbling 
neither so loud nor so long as he had been led to anti- 
cipate; but it is difficult to gather any distinct idea of 
the phenomenon from his careless and jocose nar- 
rative. As far as we can make out, the noise is pro- 



* 

nine. 



Did Sir Frederick count them ? Dr Shaw could see only 
11 the former be correct, the three which the latter 
traveller supposes to have been filled up by "the sand, have 
been again cleared. Sir Frederick Henniker says, < there is 
another place named Elim, between this and Suez * This 
must be a mistake. He has probably been misled by the hy- 
pothesis which places Elim at Gharendel. 



128 ARABIA. 

duced simply by the falling of the sand into the sub- 
terranean cavity. There are several inscriptions on 
the rocks in the vicinity. The grove of palms consti- 
tutes the chief wealth of the inhabitants of Tor. 
1 Every tree, 7 we are told, ' is registered; most of 
them are entailed property; and they produce mar- 
riage portions in dates, — as portions in Holland were 
formerly given in tulips.' Beyond this sacred grove, 
a flat sandy plain extends to the foot of the rocky 
mountains. A narrow fissure in this natural bul- 
wark, through which flows a shallow streamlet, con- 
ducts to Mount Sinai. It is so narrow, that the 
camels were frequently obliged to walk in water. In 
about an hour, this defile expands into a wider space. 
Early on the third day, our Traveller arrived at a 
green valley, whence he had the pleasure of descrying 
the convent, which has the appearance of a fortress, 
' situated at the extremity of a cul de sac, formed by 
overhanging rocks. If I had to represent the end of 
the world,' says Sir Frederick, < I would model it 
from Mount Sinai, 3 

The convent of Mount Sinai, though usually called 
after Saint Catherine, its vice-patroness, is dedicated 
to the Transfiguration. One would have thought, a 
more illustrious saint than Saint Catherine might 
have been selected by the monk who dreamed where 
that lady's bones were to be found. In such a scene, 
it is most revolting to be met by all the fooleries of 
the Empress Helena, and to find a worship as sense- 
less as that of the golden calf perpetuated within the 
awful precincts of Sinai. The situation in which the 
poor fanatics are placed who have immured them- 
selves here, is not a very enviable one. The con- 
vent has a door, but it is walled up, and opened only 
for the archbishop who compounds dearly with the 
Arabs for this honour.* On the arrival of a stranger, 

* Niebuhr was told by the Arabs, that the monks enter by 
a subterraneous passage. Sir F. IJenniker says, there is a re- 
gret door leading to the garden, but it is seldom opened. 



- 



%?!■ 







11111 




% wmm 

■■■ -■:-.■■ : ■:■:.-■■-■- ■ ■:--■:,■ ■ ■■- 



: .. ■ 








MOUNT SINAI & CONVENT. 



-t~1ir//.rrS?f&7}-j-- -ZJr/tf'ts.y^', ; ■,'■: 



ARABIA. l£9 

as there is neither bell nor bugle, the warden must be 
summoned by strength of lungs. His credentials are 
then demanded, and a string is let down for his letter 
of introduction. If this proves satisfactory to the 
prior, a rope, with a stick fixed transversely to the 
end of it, is let down from a window between thirty and 
forty feet from the ground, and the pilgrim is hoisted 
up by a windlass. There, a crowd of priests surround 
him, to salu*- him by his newly acquired title ofhadji 
(X*<*)» and, putting a wax taper into his hand, lead 
him off in procession to the church, and to the shrine 
of Saint Catherine, chaunting as they march* Sir 
Frederick Henniker, however, in quality, as it would 
seem, of a milordos, was conducted, after due saluta- 
tions, to 'the traveller's room.' 

The best account of the convent is furnished by 
Burckhardt. c The convent of Mount Sinai is situ- 
ated in a valley so narrow, that one part of the build- 
ing stands on the side of the western mountain, while 
a space of twenty paces only is left between its walls 
and the eastern mountain. The valley is open to the 
north, from whence approaches the road from Cairo; 
to the south, close behind the convent, it is shut up 
by a third mountain, less steep than the other, over 
which passes the road to Sherm. The convent is an 
irregular quadrangle of about one hundred and thirty 
paces, enclosed by high and solid walls built with 
blocks of granite, and fortified by several small towers. 
While the French were in Egypt, a part of the east 
wall which had fallen down, was completely rebuilt by 
order of General Kleber, who sent workmen here for 
that purpose. The upper part of the walls in the 
interior is built of a mixture of granite-sand and 

This was the reception given to Mr Fazakerley and his 
companions, their visit being attributed to devout motives : a 
pilgrimage to Smai entitles the traveller to the honourable 
appellation referred to. 



\ 30 ARABIA. 

gravel, cemented together by mud," which has acquired 

.oreat hardness. 

< The convent contains eight or ten small court- 
yards, some of which are neatly laid out in beds 
of flowers and vegetables; a few date-trees and 
cypresses also grow there, and great numbers ot 
vines The distribution of the interior is very irre- 
gular, and could not be otherwise, considering the 
slope uoon which the building stands; but the whole 
is very clean and neat. There are a great number ot 
small rooms in the lower and upper stories, most ot 
which are at present unoccupied. The principal buil- 
ding in the interior is the great church, which, as well 
as the convent, was built by the Emperor Justinian, 
but it has subsequently undergone frequent repairs. 
The form of the church is an oblong square; the root 
is supported by a double row of fine granite pillars, 
which have been covered with a coat of white plaster, 
perhaps because the natural colour of the stone was 
not agreeable to the monks, who saw granite on every 
side of them. The capitals of the columns are of dif- 
ferent designs; several of them bear a resemblance 
to palm branches, while others are a close but coarse 
imitation of the latest period of Egyptian sculpture, 
such as is seen at Philse, and in several temples m 
Nubia. The dome over the altar still remains as it 
was constructed by Justinian, whose portrait, toge- 
ther with that of his wife Theodora, may yet be dis- 
tinguished on the dome, together with a large picture 
of "the Transfiguration, in honour of which event tne 
convent was erected. An abundance of silver lamps, 
paintings, and portraits of saints adorn the wails 
round the altar; among the latter is a saint Christo- 
pher, with a dog's head. The floor of the cnurch is 
finely paved with slabs of marble. 

< The church contains the coffin in which the bones 
of St Catherine were collected from the neighbouring 
mountain of St Catherine, where her corpse was 



ARABIA. 131 

transported after her death by the angels in the ser- 
vice of the monks. The silver lid of a sarcophagus 
likewise attracts attention; upon it is represented at 
full length, the figure of the Empress Anne of Russia, 
who entertained the idea of being interred in the 
sarcophagus, which she sent here; but the monks 
were disappointed of this honour. In a small chapel 
adjoining the church, is shown the place where the 
Lord is supposed to have appeared to Moses in the 
burning bush; it is called Alyka, and is considered 
as the most holy spot in Mount Sinai. Besides the 
great church, there are twenty-seven smaller churches 
or chapels dispersed over the convent, in many of 
which daily masses are read, and in all of them at 
least one every Sunday. 

i The convent formerly resembled, in its estab- 
lishment, that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 
which contains churches of various sects of Christians. 
Every principal sect, except the Calvinists and Pro- 
testants, had its churches in the convent of Sinai. 
I was shown the chapels belonging to the Syrians, 
Armenians, Copts, and Latins, but they have long 
been abandoned by their owners: the church of the 
Latins fell into ruins at the close of the seventeenth 
century, and has not been rebuilt. But, what is more 
remarkable than the existence of so many churches, 
is, that close by the great church stands a Moham- 
medan mosque, spacious enough to contain two hun- 
dred people at prayers. The monks told me, that it 
was built in the sixteenth century, to prevent the des- 
truction of the convent. Their tradition is as follows. 
When Selim, the Othman emperor, conquered Egypt, 
he took a great fancy to a young Greek priest, who 
falling ill at the time that Selim was returning to 
Constantinople, was sent by him to this convent to 
recover his health : the young man died, upon which 
the emperor, enraged at what he considered to be the 
work of the priests, gave orders to the governor of 



13& ARABIA. 

Eoypt to destroy all the Christian establishments in 
the peninsula; of which there were several at that 
period. The priests of the great convent of Mount 
Sinai being informed of the preparations making in 
Egypt to carry these orders into execution, began 
immediately to build a mosque within their walls, 
hoping that, for its sake, their house would be 
spared; it is said that their project was successful, 
and that ever since, the mosque has been kept in 
repair. 

c This tradition, however, is contradicted by some 
old Arabic records kept by the prior, in which T read 
a circumstantial account how, in the year of the 
Hedjra 783, some straggling Turkish Hadjis, who 
had been cut off from the caravan, were brought by 
the Bedouins to the convent; and, being found to be 
well educated, and originally from Upper Egypt, were 
retained here, and a salary settled on them and their 
descendants, on condition of their becoming the ser- 
vants of the mosque. The conquest of Egypt by 
Selim did not take place till A. H. 895. The mosque 
in the convent of Sinai appears, therefore, to have 
existed long; before the time of Selim. The descend- 
ants of these Hadjis, now poor Bedouins, are called 
Retheny; they still continue to be the servants of 
the mosque, which they clean on Thursday evenings, 
and light the lamps; one of them is called the Imam. 
The mosque is sometimes visited by Moslem pilgrims, 
but it is only upon the occasion of the presence of 
some Mussulman of consequence that the call to 
prayers is made from the minaret. 

i In the convent are two deep and copious wells of 
spring water. One of them is called the well of Moses, 
because it is said that he first drank of its water. 
Another was the work, as the monks say, of an 
English,. lord ; it bears the date 1760. There is also 
a reservoir for the reception of rain water. 

f None of the churches or chapels have steeples. 



ARABIA. 133 

There is a bell, which, I believe, is rung only on 
Sundays. The usual mode of calling the monks to 
morning prayers, is by striking with a stick upon a 
long piece of granite, ^suspended from ropes, which 
produces a sound hearcPjall over the convent: close by 
it hangs a piece of dry wood, which emits a different 
sound, and summons to vespers. A small tower is 
shown, which was built forty or fifty years ago for the 
residence of a Greek patriarch of Constantinople, who 
was exiled to this place by the orders of the sultan., 
and who remained here till he died. 

4 According to the credited tradition, the origin 
of the convent of Mount Sinai dates from the fourth 
century. Helena, the mother of Constantine, is said 
to have erected here a small church, in commemora- 
tion of the place where the Lord appeared to Moses in 
the burning bush; and in the garden of the convent a> 
small tower is still shown, the foundations of which are 
said to have been laid by her. The church of Helena 
drawing many visiters and monks to these mountains,, 
several small convents were erected in different parts 
of the peninsula, in the course of the next century ^ 
but the ill treatment which the monks and hermits 
suffered from the Bedouins, induced them at last to 
present a petition to the Emperor Justinian, entreat- 
ing him to build a fortified convent capable of afford- 
ing them protection against their oppressors. He 
granted the request, and sent workmen from Con- 
stantinople and Egypt, with orders to erect a large 
convent upon the top of the mountain of Moses* 
those, however, to whom the work was entrusted, 
observing the entire want of water in that spot, built 
it on the present site. They attempted in vain to 
cut away the mountain on each side of the building, 
with a view to prevent the Arabs from taking post 
here and throwing stones at the monks within. The 
building being completed, Justinian sent from Con- 
stantinople some slaves, natives of the shores of the 
vol. i. 12 



134 AHAfilA, 

Black Sea, to officiate as servants in the convent, 
who established themselves with their families in the 
neighbouring valleys. The first prior was Doulas, 
whose name is still recorded upon a stone built into 
the wall of one of the buildings in the interior of the 
convent. The above history is taken from a docu- 
ment in Arabic, preserved by the monks. An Arabic 
inscription over the gate, in modern characters, states, 
that Justinian built the convent in the thirtieth year 
of his reign, as a memorial of himself and his wife 
Theodora. It is curious to find a passage of the 
Koran introduced into this inscription; it was pro- 
bably done by a Moslem sculptor, without the know- 
ledge of the monks. 

1 A few years after the completion of the convent, 
one of the monks is said to have been informed in his 
sleep, that the corpse of St Catherine, who suffered 
martyrdom at Alexandria, had been transported by 
angels to the summit of the highest peak of the sur- 
rounding mountains. The monks ascended the moun- 
tain in procession, found the bones, and deposited 
them in their church, which thus acquired an addi- 
tional claim to the veneration of the Greeks. 

' Monastic establishments seem soon after to have 
considerably increased throughout the peninsula. 
Small convents, chapels, and hermitages, the remains 
of many of which are still visible, were built in 
various parts of it. The prior told me, that Justinian 
gave the whole peninsula in property to the convent, 
and that at the time of the Mohammedan conquest^ 
6 or 7,000 monks and hermits were dispersed over 
the mountains, the establishments of the peninsula of 
Sinai thus resembling those which still exist on the 
peninsula of Mount Athos. 

' It is a favourite belief of the monks of Mount 
Sinai, that Mohammed himself, in one of his journeys, 
alighted under the walls of the convent, and that, 
impressed with due veneration for the mountain of 



ARABIA. ISO 

Moses, he presented to the convent a firmaun, to 
secure to it the respect of all his followers. Ali is said 
to have written it, and Mohammed, who could not 
write, to have confirmed it by impressing his extended 
hand, blackened with ink, upon the parchment. This 
firmaun, it is added, remained in the convent until 
Selim the First conquered Egypt, when, hearing of 
the precious relic, he sent for it, and added it to the 
other relics of Mohammed in the imperial treasury at 
Constantinople; giving to the convent in return, a 
copy of the original certified with his own cipher. I 
have seen the latter, which is kept in the Sinai con- 
vent at Cairo, but I do not believe it to be an au- 
thentic document. None of the historians of Moham- 
med, who have recorded the transactions of almost 
every day of his life, mention his having been at 
Mount Sinai, either in his earlier youth, or after 
he set up as a prophet; and it is totally contrary to 
history, that he should have granted to any Christians 
such privileges as are mentioned in this firmaun, one 
of which is, that the Moslems are bound to aid the 
Christian monks in rebuilding their ruined churches. 
It is to be observed also, that this document states 
itself to have been written by Ali, not at the convent, 
but in the mosque of the prophet at Medinah, in the 
second year of the Hedjra, and is addressed, not to 
the convent of Mount Sinai in particular, but to all 
the Christians and their priests. The names of 
twenty-two witnesses, followers of Mohammed, are 
subscribed to it; and in a note it is expressly stated, 
that the original, written by Ali, was lost, and that 
the present was copied from a fourth successive copy 
taken from the original. Hence it appears, that the 
relation of the priests is at variance with the document 
to which they refer; and I have little doubt, there- 
fore, that the former is a fable, and the latter a for- 
gery. 

< Notwithstanding the difficulties to which the 



136 ARABIA. 

monks must have been exposed from the warlike and 
fanatical followers of the new faith in Syria, Arabia, 
Egypt, and the Desert, the convent continued unin- 
jured, and defended itself successfully against all the 
surrounding tribes by the peculiar arms of its pos- 
sessors, patience, meekness, and money. According 
to the statement of the monks, their predecessors were 
made responsible by the sultans of Egypt for the pro- 
tection of the pilgrim caravans from Cairo to Mekka, 
on that part of the road which lay along the northern 
frontiers of their territory from Suez to Akaba For 
this purpose they thought it necessary to invite seve- 
ral tribes, and particularly the Szowaleha and the 
Aleygat, to settle in the fertile valleys of Sinai, in 
order to serve as protectors of this road. The Be- 
douins came, but, their power increasing, while that 
of the monks declined, they in the course of time 
took possession of the whole peninsula, and confined 
the monks to their convent. It appears from the 
original copy of a compact between the monks and the 
above Bedouins, made in the year of the Hedjra 800, 
when Sultan Dhaher Bybars reigned in Egypt, that, 
besides this convent, six others were still existing in 
the peninsula, exclusive of a number of chapels and 
hermitages. From a writing on parchment, dated in 
the A.H. 1053, we find that in that year all these 
minor establishments had been abandoned, and that 
the great convent, holding property at Feiran, Tor 
and in other fruitful valleys, alone remained. The 
priests assured me, that they had documents to prove, 
that all the date valleys and other fertile spots in the 
gulf of Akaba had been in their possession, and were 
confirmed to them by the sultans of Egypt ; but they 
either could not or would not show me their archives 
in detail, without an order from the prior at Cairo: 
indeed, all their papers appeared to be in great con- 
fusion. 

' Whenever a new sultan ascends the throne of 



ARABIA. 137 

Constantinople, the convent, is furnished with a new 
firmaun, which is transmitted to the Pasha of Egypt; 
but, as the neighbouring Bedouins, till within a few 
years, were completely independent of Egypt, the 
protection of the pashas was of very little use to the 
monks; and their only dependence was upon their 
own resources and their means of purchasing and 
conciliating the friendship, or of appeasing the ani- 
mosity of the Arabs. 

' At present, there are only twenty-three monks in 
the convent. They are under the presidence of a 
Wakyl or prior, but the Ikonomos (Oiwcpos), whom 
the Arabs call the Kolob, is the true head of the com- 
munity, and manages all its affairs. The order of 
Sinai monks dispersed over the East, is under the con- 
trol of an archbishop, in Arabic called the Reys. He 
is chosen by a council of delegates from Mount Sinai 
and from the affiliated convent at Cairo, and he is 
confirmed, proformi, by the Greek patriarch of Jeru- 
salem. The archbishop can do nothing as to the 
appropriation of the funds without the° unanimous 
vote of the council. Formerly he lived in the convent ; 
but since its affairs have been on the decline, it has 
been found more expedient that he should reside 
abroad, his presence here entitling the Bedouins to 
great fees, particularly on his entrance into the con- 
vent. I was told, that ten thousand dollars would be 
required, on such an occasion, to fulfil all the obliga- 
tions to which the community is bound in its treaties 
with the Arabs. Hence it happens that no arch- 
bishop has been here since the year 1760, when the 
Reys Kyrillos resided, and I believe died, in the con- 
vent. I was informed that the gate has remained 
walled up since the year 1709, (1769?) but that if an 
archbishop were to come, it must be again opened to 
admit him, and that all the Bedouin sheikhs then 
have a right to enter within the walls. 

vol. i. 13 



133 



ARABIA. 



* Besides the convent at Cairo, which contains a 
prior and about fifty monks, Mount Sinai has establish- 
ments and landed property in many other parts of the 
.Last, especially in the Archipelago and at Candia: it 
has also a small church at Calcutta, and another at 
burat. 

-•The discipline of these monks, with regard to food 
and prayer, is very severe. They are obliged to attend 
mass twice m the day and twice in the night The 
rule is, that they shall taste no flesh whatever all the 
year round; and in their great fast, they not only 
abstain from butter and every * kind of animal food 
and fish, but also from oil, and live four days in the 
week on bread and boiled vegetables, of which one 
dish is all their dinner. They obtain their 
vegetables from a pleasant garden adjoining the build- 
ing into which there is a subterraneous passage The 
soil is stony, but, in this climate, wherever water is in 
plenty, the very rocks will produce vegetation. The 
tat is of the finest quality: oranges, lemons, almonds, 
mulberries, apricots, peaches, pears, apples, olives 
nebek-trees, and a few cypresses, overshade the Teds 

Tn/^lf 1 7 T> r eanS? lettuces > onions > cucumbers, 
and all sorts of culinary and sweet-scented herbs are 
sown Ihe garden, however, is very seldom visited 
by the monks, except by the fe W whose business it is 
to keep !t in order; for, although surrounded by high 

The las Th n0t maCCe f We t0 the Bedouins > w ho, for 
the last three years, have been the sole gatherers of 

wt S : K EV1 K g the ^S^bles only for the monks: 

fiSt from ^ T OWlged t0 re 'P™ h ^ their own 

tt^ula. 6 FliererS ' ° r t0 ^ h in 0tW P«* °? 

farl^Ab^ 61 !! 6 ^ ^ ° f the COnvent > and the ™ple 
Tthfl he ! mhabltants ^ e ^er diseases rare. Many 

of heir "^ i T e 77 $* men > in the Ml POBsesBion 

taken to ,2 *?* Mlly facu,ties ' *W have all 
taken to some profession, - a mode of rendering them- 



ARABIA. 139 

selves independent of Egypt, which was practised 
here, even when the three hundred private chambers 
were occupied, which are now empty, though still 
ready for the accommodation of pious settlers. Among 
the twenty-three monks who now remain, there is 
m, cook, a distiller, a baker, a shoemaker, a tailor, 
a carpenter, a smith, a mason, a gardener, a maker of 
candles, Sec, &c. Each of these has his work-shop, in 
the worn-out and rusty utensils of which are still 
to be seen the traces of the former riches and industry 
of the establishment. The rooms in which the pro- 
visions are kept, are vaulted, and built of granite, 
with great solidity: each kind of provision has its 
purveyor. The bake-house and distillery are still 
kept up upon a large scale. The best bread is of the 
finest quality, but the second and third sorts are made 
for the Bedouins who are fed by the convent. In the 
distillery, they make brandy from dates, which is the 
only solace these recluses enjoy, and in this they are 
permitted to indulge even during the fasts. 

c Most of the monks are natives of the Greek 
islands. In general, they do not remain more than 
four or five years, when they return to their own 
country, proud of having been sufferers among Be- 
douins: some, however, have been here forty years. 
A few of them only understood Arabic; but none of 
them write or read it. Being of the lower orders of 
society, and educated only in convents, they are 
extremely ignorant. Few of them read even the 
modern Greek fluently, excepting in their prayer- 
books; and I found but one who had any notion 
of the ancient Greek. They have a good library, but 
it is always shut up; it contains about fifteen hun- 
dred Greek volumes, and seven hundred Arabic 
manuscripts: the latter, which I examined volume 
after volume, consist entirely of books of prayer, 
copies of the Gospels, lives of saints, liturgies, &c. 
A thick folio volume of the works of Lokman, edited, 



140 ARABIA. 

according to the Arab tradition, by Hormus, the 
ancient king of 'Egypt, was the only one worth atten- 
tion. The prior would not permit it to be taken 
away, but he made me a present of a fine copy of the 
Aldine Odyssey, and an equally fine one of the 
Anthology. In the room anciently the residence 
of the archbishop, which is very elegantly paved with 
marble, and extremely well furnished, though at 
present unoccupied, isTpreserved a beautiful ancient 
manuscript of the Gospels in Greek, which, I was 
told, was given to the convent by l an emperor called 
Theodosius.' It is written in letters of gold upon 
vellum, and ornamented with portraits of the apostles. 

1 Notwithstanding the ignorance of these monks, 
they are fond of seeing strangers in their wilderness; 
and I met with a more cordial reception among them, 
than I did in the convents of Libanus, which are 
in possession of all the luxuries of life. The monks 
of Sinai are even generous. Three years ago, they 
furnished a Servian adventurer, who styled himself a 
Knes, and pretended to be well known to the Russian 
Government, with sixty dollars, to pay his journey 
back to Alexandria, on his informing them of his des- 
titute circumstances. 

c At present, the convent is seldom visited: a 
few Greeks from Cairo and Suez, and the inhabitants 
of Tor, who repair here every summer, and encamp 
with their families in the garden, are the only per- 
sons who venture to undertake the journey through 
the desert. So late as the last century, regular 
caravans of pilgrims used to come here from Cairo 
as well as from Jerusalem. A document preserved 
by the monks, states the arrival in one day of 
eight hundred Armenians from Jerusalem, and, at 
another time, of five hundred Copts from Cairo. 
I believe that from sixty to eighty is the greatest 
number of visiters that can now be reckoned in a 
vear. 



ARABIA. 141 

i The only habitual visiters of the convent are the 
Bedouins. They have established the custom, that 
whoever amongst them, whether man, woman, or 
child, comes here, is to receive bread for breakfast 
and supper, which is lowered down to them from the 
window, as no Bedouins, except the servants of the 
house, are ever admitted within the walls. Fortu- 
nately for the monks, there are no good pasturing- 
places in their immediate neighbourhood; the Arab 
encampments are therefore always at some distance, 
and visiters are thus not so frequent as might be 
supposed; yet, scarcely a day passes without their 
having to furnish bread to thirty or forty persons. 
In the last century, the Bedouins enjoyed still greater 
privileges, and had a right to call for a dish of cooked 
meat at breakfast, and for another at supper: the 
monks could not have given a stronger proof of their 
address, than by obtaining the abandonment of this 
right from men in whose power they are so com- 
pletely placed. The convent of Sinai at Cairo is 
subject to similar claims; all the Bedouins of the 
peninsula who repair to that city on their private 
business,, receive their daily' meal from the monks, 
who, not having the same excuses as their brethren 
of Mount Sinai, are obliged to supply a dish of 
cooked meat. The convent has its ghafeirs, or pro- 
tectors, twenty-four in number, among the tribes 
inhabiting the desert between Syria and the Red Sea; 
but the more remote of them are entitled only to 
some annual presents in clothes and money, while 
the Towara ghafeirs are continually hovering round 
the walls, to extort as much as they can. Of the 
Towara Arabs, the tribes of Szowaleha and Aley<?at 
only are considered as protectors; the Mezeine, who 
came in later times to the peninsula, have no claims; 
and of the Szowaleha tribe, the branches Oulad Said 
and Owareme are exclusively the protectors, while 

vol, i. 14 



142 ARABIA. 

the Koreysh and Rahamy are not only excluded from 
the right of protection, but also from the transport of 
passengers and loads. Of the Oulad Said, each indi- 
vidual receives an annual gift of a dollar, and the 
ghafeir of this branch of the Szowaleha is the con- 
vent's chief man of business in the desert. If a 
sheikh or head man calls at the convent, he receives, 
in addition to his bread, some coffee-beans, sugar, 
soap, sometimes a handkerchief, a little medicine, &c, 
&c. 

( Under such circumstances, it may easily be con- 
ceived that disputes continually happen. If a sheikh 
from the protecting tribes comes to the convent to 
demand coffee, sugar, or clothing, and is not well 
satisfied with what he receives, he immediately 
becomes the enemy of the monks, lays waste some of 
their gardens, and must at last be gained over by a 
present. The independent state of the Bedouins of 
Sinai had long prevented the monks from endea- 
vouring to obtain protection from the Government of 
Egypt, whose power in the peninsula being trifling, 
they would only by complaining have exasperated the 
Bedouins against them; their differences, therefore, 
had hitherto been accommodated by the mediation of 
other sheikhs. It was not till 1816 that they solicited 
the protection of Mohammed Ali; this will secure 
them for the present against their neighbours; but it 
will, probably, as I told the monks, be detrimental to 
them in the end. Ten or twenty dollars were suffi- 
cient to pacify the fiercest Bedouin; but a Turkish 
governor will demand a thousand for any effectual 
protection. 

' The Arabs, when discontented, have sometimes 
seized a monk in the mountains, and given him a 
severe beating, or have thrown stones or fired their 
muskets into the convent from the neighbouring 
heights: about twenty years ago, a monk was killed 
by them. The monks, in their turn, have fired ecca- 



ARABIA. 143 

sionally upon the Bedouins, for they have a well- 
furnished armoury and two small cannon, but they 
take great care never to kill any one. And though 
they dislike such turbulent neighbours, and describe 
them to strangers as very devils, yet, they have sense 
enough to perceive the advantages which they derive 
from the better traits in the Bedouin character, such 
as their general good faith, and their placability. 
" If our convent," as they have observed to me, 
" had been subject to the revolutions and oppressions 
of Egypt or Syria, it would long ago have been 
abandoned; but Providence has preserved us by giv- 
ing us Bedouins for neighbours." 

c Notwithstanding the greediness of the Bedouins, I 
have reason to believe that the expenses of the convent 
are very moderate. Each monk is supplied annually 
with two coarse woollen cloaks, and no splendour is 
any where displayed, except in the furniture of the 
great church, and that of the Archbishop's room. 
The supplies are drawn from Egypt; but the com- 
munication by caravans with Cairo is far from being 
regular, and the ikonomos assured me that, at the 
time I was there, the house did not contain more than 
one month's provision. 

c The yearly consumption of corn is about one hun- 
dred and sixty erdebs, or two thousand five hundred 
bushels, which is sufficient to cover all the demands of 
the Bedouins; and I believe that 1000/ sterling, or 
4000 dollars, is the utmost of the annual expenditure. 
The convent at Cairo expends perhaps two or three 
times that sum. The monks complaiu greatly of 
poverty; and the prior assured me, that he sometimes 
has not a farthing left to pay for the corn that is 
brought to him, and is obliged to borrow money from 
the Bedouins at high interest. But an appearance of 
poverty is one of their great protections; and con- 
sidering the possessions of this convent abroad, and 



144 ARABIA. 

the presents which it receives from pilgrims, I am 
much inclined to doubt the prior's assertion. 7 * 

Sir Frederick Henniker found thirty resident monks 
here; and there are, he says, the same number of 
' travelling fellows,' who go from place to place to 
beg for the convent. The superior had been resident 
here forty-five years. One old monk, just arrived 
from Cairo in thirty clays, said that he had been a 
member of the establishment seventy years. 

After reposing in the convent and its delightful 
garden, the first duty of a pilgrim is, to climb the 
summit of the Bjehel Mousa, or mountain of Moses, 
the road to which begins to ascend immediately be- 
hind the walls of the convent. Regular steps (it is 
said, to the number of 15,000|) have been cut all the 
way up; but they are now either entirely destroyed, 
or so much damaged by the winter torrents, as to be 
of very little use. They are ascribed to the munifi- 
cence of the Empress Helena. < After ascending for 
about twenty-five minutes,' says Burckhardt, < we 
breathed a short time under a large impending rock, 
close by which is a small well of water, as cold as ice. 
At the end of three quarters of an hour's steep ascent, 
we came to a small plain, the entrance to which from 
below is through a stone gateway, which in former 
times was probably closed: a little beneath it, stands, 
amidst the rocks, a small church dedicated to the 
Virgin. On the plain is a larger building of rude con- 
struction, which bears the name of the convent of 
St Elias: it was lately inhabited, but is now aban- 
doned, the monks repairing here only at certain times 
of the year to read mass. Pilgrims usually halt on 
this spot, where a tall cypress-tree grows by the side 
of a stone tank, which receives the winter rains. On 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 551 — 557. 

t Journal from Grand Cairo to Mount Sinai, translated by 
the Right Rev. Rob. Clayton, Lord Bishop of Clogher. 



ARABIA. 145 

a large rock in the plain are several Arabic inscrip- 
tions, engraved by pilgrims three or four hundred 
years ago; I saw one also in the Syriac language. 

1 According to the Koran and Moslem traditions, 
it was in this part of the mountain, which is called 
Djebel Oreb, or Horeb, that Moses communicated 
with the Lord. From hence a still steeper ascent of 
half an hour, the steps of which are also in ruins 
leads to the summit of Djebel Mousa, where stands 
the church which forms the principal object of the pil- 
grimage: it is built on the very peak of the mountain, 
the plane of which is at most sixty paces in circum- 
ference. The church, though strongly built with 
granite, is now greatly dilapidated by the unremitted 
attempts of the Arabs to destroy it; the door, roof 
and walls are greatly injured. Szaleh, the present 
Sheikh of the Towara, with his tribe the Korashy 
was the principal instrument in the work of destruc- 
tion, because, not being entitled to any tribute from 
the convent, they are particularly hostile to the monks. 
Some ruins round the church indicate that a much 
larger and more solid building once stood here; and 
the rock appears to have been cut perpendicularly 
with great labour, to prevent any other approach to 
it than by the southern side. The view from this 
summit must be very grand, but a thick fog prevented 
me from seeing even the nearest mountains. 

1 About thirty paces from the church, on a some- 
what lower peak, stands a poor mosque, without any 
ornaments, held in great veneration by the Moslems 
and the place of their pilgrimage. It is frequently 
visited by the Bedouins, who slaughter sheep in 
honour of Moses, and who make vows to him, and 
entreat his intercession in heaven in their favour, 
There is a feast-day on which the Bedouins come 
hither in a mass, and offer their sacrifices. I was told 
that formerly they never approached the place with- 
vol. j. 14* 



146 ARABIA. 

out being dressed in the Ihram, or sacred mantle, with 
which the Moslems cover their naked bodies on visit- 
ing Mekka, and which then consisted only of a napkin 
tied round the middle; but this custom has been 
abandoned for the last forty years. Foreign Moslem 
pilgrims often repair to the spot; and even Moham- 
med Ali Pasha, and his son Tousoun Pasha, gave 
notice that they intended to visit it, but' they did not 
keep their promise. Close by the footpath, in the 
ascent from St Elias to this summit, and at a small 
distance from it, a place is shown in the rock, which 
somevyhat resembles the print of the fore-part of the 
foot; it is stated to have been made by Mohammed's 
foot when he visited the mountain. We found the 
adjacent part of the rock sprinkled with blood, in con- 
sequence of an accident which happened a few days 
before to a Turkish lady of rank, who was on her way 
from Cairo to Mekka, with her son, and who had 
resided for some weeks in the convent, during which 
she made the tour of the sacred places, bare-footed 
although she was old and decrepit. In attempting to 
kiss the mark of Mohammed's foot, she fell, and 
wounded her head, but not so severely as to prevent 
her from pursuing her pilgrimage. Somewhat below 
the mosque is a fine reservoir, cut very deep in the 
granite rock, for the reception of rain water. 

' The Arabs believe that the tables of the Com- 
mandments are buried beneath the pavement of the 
church on Djebel Mousa, and they have made ex- 
cavations on every side, in the hope of finding them. 
They more particularly revere this spot from a belief 
that the rains which fall in the peninsula are under 
the immediate control of Moses; and they are per- 
suaded that the priests of the convent are in possession 
of the Taourat, a book sent down to Moses from 
heaven, upon the opening and shutting of which 
depend the rains of the peninsula. The reputation 
which the monks have thus obtained of having the 



ARABIA. 147 

dispensation of the rains in their hands, has become 
very troublesome to them, but they have brought it 
on by their own measures for enhancing their credit 
with the Bedouins. In times of dearth, they were 
accustomed to proceed in a body to Djebel Mousa, to 
pray for rain, and they encouraged the belief that the 
rain was .due to their intercessions. By a natural 
inference, the Bedouins have concluded, that, if the 
monks could bring rain, they had it likewise in their 
power to withhold it; and the consequence is, that 
whenever a dearth happens, they accuse the monks of 
malevolence, and often tumultuously assemble and 
compel them to repair to the mountain to pray. Some 
years since, soon after an occurrence of this kind, it 
happened that a violent flood burst over the peninsula, 
and destroyed many date-trees. A Bedouin, whose 
camels and sheep had been swept away by the torrent, 
went in a fury to the convent, and fired his gun at it, 
and, when asked the reason, exclaimed — " You have 
opened the book so much that we are all drowned!" 
He was pacified by presents ; but, on departing, he 
begged that in future the monks would only half open 
the Taourat, in order that the rains might be more 
moderate. 

4 The supposed influence of the monks is, however, 
sometimes attended with more fortunate results. The 
Sheikh Szaleh had never been father of a male child; 
and on being told that Providence had thus punished 
him for his enmity to the convent, he two years ago 
brought a load of butter to the monks, and entreated 
them to go to the mountain and pray that his newly 
married wife, who was then pregnant, might be 
delivered of a son. The monks complied, and Szaleh 
soon after became the happy father of a fine boy ; 
since that period, he has been the friend of the convent, 
and has even partly repaired the church on Djebel 
Mousa. This summit was formerly inhabited by the 



148 



ARABIA. 



monks, but at present they visit it only in time of 
festivals. 

< We returned to the convent of St Elias, and then 
descended on the western side of the mountain for 
half an hour by another decayed flight of steps, into a 
valley where is a small convent called El Erbayn, or 
the forty : it is in good repair, and is at present in- 
habited by a family of Djebalye, who take care of the 
garden annexed to it, which affords a pleasing place 
of rest to those who descend from the barren mountains 
above. In its neighbourhood are extensive olive- 
plantations; but I was told that, for the last five sum- 
mers, the locusts had devoured both the fruit and 
foliage of these trees, upon which they alight in pre- 
ference to all others. This insect is not less dread- 
ed here than in Arabia, Syria, and Egypt ; but the 
Bedouins of Mount Sinai, unlike those of Arabia, 
instead of eating them, hold them in great abhorrence.' 
The convent of the Forty Martyrs is situated in 
the midst of the valley lying between Bjebel Mousa 
on the east, and Bjebel Katerin (Mount Catherine) 
on the west. The latter is the loftier and more pictu- 
resque peak of the two, and the ascent is very difficult. 
At about an hour from the convent, the pilgrim ar- 
rives at a small spring, called Bir Shonnar (the well 
of the partridge), so named, because it was first dis- 
covered to some thirsty monks by a bird's flying up 
from the spot.* It is closely surrounded with rocks, 
and is not more than a foot in diameter, and as much 
in depth; but the Bedoweens say, that it never dries 
up, and that its water, even when exposed to the 

* ' This fountain, the Greeks say, broke out miraculously 
when the body of St Catherine was carried from this moun- 
tain to the great convent; at which time the bearers of her 
corpse being ready to perish with thirst, the partridges which 
attended her funeral from the summit of the mountain, conduct- 
ed them to this place, and discovered the ^fountain to them.' — 
Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai. 



ARABIA. 149 

sun, is as cold as ice. Several trees grow near it ; 
among others, the zarour, which bears a fruit resem- 
bling in flavour the strawberry. This side of the 
Djebel Katerin is noted for its excellent pasturage : 
herbs sprout up every where between the rocks, and, 
as many of them are odoriferous, the scent early in 
the morning, when the dew falls, is delicious. A 
botanist, Burckhardt says, would find a rich, harvest 
here.* He mentions in particular, the zattar (ocimum 
zatarhendi), which affords the best possible food for 
sheep, and the euphorbia retusa of Forskal, bearing a 
pretty red flower, which abounds in the valleys of 
Sinai, and is seen among the most barren granitic 
rocks. * In the month of June, when the herbs are 
in blossom, the monks repair to this and the sur- 
rounding mountains, in order to collect various herbs, 
which they dry and send to the convent at Cairo, 
whence they are despatched to the Archbishop of 
Sinai, who distributes them to his friends and de- 
pendents : they are supposed to possess many virtues 
conducive to health.' In winter, when the whole of 
the upper Sinai is deeply covered with snow, and 
many of the passes are choked up, the mountains of 
Moses and St Catherine are often inaccessible. Mr 
Fazakerley, who ascended them in the month of 
February, found a great deal of snow, and the ascent 
was 'severe;' but upon the whole, he adds, 'we 
fared better than Pietro della Valle, who went up in 
a violent snow-storm, and gives a lamentable account 
of his adventures here.' The English Traveller 
reached the summit at the end of three hours from 
the convent of the Forty Martyrs. There have for- 
merly been steps, but these are entirely destroyed. 

* And the geologist too, according to Bishop Clayton's docu- 
ment, which speaks of abundance of curious stones, and pen- 
dent rocks marked with the most beautiful veins, shooting forth 
in the resemblance of trees. 



150 



ARABIA. 



The mountain terminates, like the Djebel Mousa, in 
a sharp peak, consisting of an immense block of gra- 
nite, the surface of which is so smooth, that it is very 
difficult to climb it. Luxuriant vegetation reaches 
up to this rock. On its summit, (here is nothing to 
excite attention, but a small chapel (Mr Fazakerley 
calls it c a shed') hardly high enough to allow a 
person to stand upright within it, and badly built of 
loose, uncemented stones. The floor is the bare rock, 
in which, says Burckhardt, solid as it is, the body of 
St Catherine is believed to have been miraculously 
buried by angels after her martyrdom at Alexandria* 
Mr Fazakerley says, it is difficult to imagine a 
scene more desolate and terrific than that which is 
discovered from the summit of Sinai. A haze limited 
the prospect, and, except a glimpse of the sea in one 
direction, nothing was within sight but snow, and 
huge peaks and crags of naked granite. Sir F. Hen- 
niker describes it as a c sea of desolation.' < It 
would seem,' he says, c as if Arabia Petrsea had once 
been an ocean of lava, and that while its waves were 
running literally mountains high, it was commanded 
suddenly to stand still.' He did not ascend the 
Djebel Katerin ; but the former Traveller did, and 
speaks of it in the following terms : < The view from 
hence is of the same kind, only much more extensive 
than from the top of Sinai : it commands the two 
seas (gulfs) of Akaba and Suez ; the island of Tiraan 
and the village of Tor were pointed out to us; Sinai 
was far below us ; clouds prevented our seeing the 
high ground near Suez : all the rest, wherever the 
eye could reach, was a vast wilderness, and a confusion 
of granite mountains and valleys destitute of ver- 

* This is rather an embellishment of the legend. Accord- 
ing to the Journal translated by Bishop Clayton, the body was 
laid on the surface ; and the impression which it made on the 
road, ' still remains to be seen.' It is seven feet in length! 



ARABIA. 151 

dure.' Burckhardt thus describes the country as 
seen from this same summit: !f From this elevated 
peak, a very extensive view opened before us, and the 
direction of the different surrounding chains of moun- 
tains could be distinctly traced. The upper nucleus 
of the Sinai, composed almost entirely of granite, 
forms a rocky wilderness of an irregular circular 
shape, intersected by many narrow valleys, and from 
thirty to forty miles in diameter. It contains the 
highest mountains oLthe peninsula, whose shaggy and 
pointed peaks, and steep and shattered sides, render 
it clearly distinguishable from all the rest of the 
country in view. It is upon this highest region of 
the peninsula, that the fertile valleys are found, 
which produce fruit-trees : they are principally to 
the west and south-west of the convent, at three or 
four hours' distance. Water, too, is always found in 
plenty in this district, on which account it is the 
place of refuge of all the Bedouins, when the low 
country is parched up. 

1 1 think it very probable that this upper country 
or wilderness is, exclusively, the Desert of Sinai, so 
often mentioned in the account of the wanderings of 
the Israelites. Mount St Catherine appears to stand 
nearly in the centre of it. To the northward of this 
central region, and divided from it by the broad valley 
called JYady el Sheikh, and by several minor wadys, 
begins a lower range of mountains, called Zebeir, which 
extends eastward, having at one extremity the two 
peaks called El Djoze, above the plantations of Wady 
Feiran, and losing itself to the east in the more open 
country towards Wady Sal. Beyond the Zebeir 
northward, are sandy plains and valleys, which I 
crossed toward the west at Rami el Moral, and toward 
the east about Hadhra. This part is the most barren 
and destitute of water of the whole country. At its 
eastern extremity it is called El Birka. It borders 
to the north on the chain of El Tyh, which stretches 



152 ARABIA. 

in a regular line eastward, parallel with the Zebeir, 
beginning at Sarbout el Djemel. On reaching, in its 
eastern course, the somewhat higher mountain called 
El Odjme, it separates into two. One of its branches 
turns off in a right angle northward, and after con- 
tinuing for about fifteen miles in that direction, again 
turns to the east, and extends parallel with the second 
and southern branch all across the peninsula, towards 
the eastern gulf. The northern branch, which is 
called El Dhehel, bounds the view from Mount St 
Catherine. On turning to the east, I found that the 
mountains in this direction beyond the high district 
of Sinai, run in a lower range towards the Wady Sal, 
and that the slope of the upper mountain is much less 
abrupt than on the opposite side. From Sal, east and 
north-east, the chains intersect each other in many 
irregular masses of inferior height, till they reach the 
gulf of Akaba, which I clearly distinguished when the 
sun was just rising over the mountains of the Arabian 
coast. Excepting the short extent from Noweyba to 
Dahab, the mountains bordering on the gulf are all 
of secondary height, but they rise to a considerable 
elevation between those two points. The country 
between Sherm, Nabk, and the convent, is occupied 
also by mountains of minor size; and the valleys gene- 
rally are so narrow, that few of them can be distin- 
guished from the point where I stood, the whole 
country, in that direction, appearing an uninterrupted 
wilderness of barren mountains. The highest points 
on that side appear to be above Wady Kyd, above the 
valley of Naszeb, and principally the peaks called Om 
Khehsyn and Masaoud. 

6 The yiew to the south was bounded by the high 
mountain of Om Shomar, which forms a nucleus of 
itself, apparently unconnected with the upper Sinai, 
although bordering close upon it. To the right of 
this mountain, I could distinguish the sea in the 
neighbourhood of Tor, near which begins a low cal- 



ARABIA. 153 

careous chain of mountains called Djehel Hemam, i. e.- 
death, (not Hamam, or bath,) extending along the 
gulf of Suez, and separated from the upper Sinai by a 
broad, gravelly plain, called El Kaa, across which the 
road from Tor to Suez passes. This plain terminates 
to the W.N.W. of Mount St Catherine, and nearly 
in the direction of Djcbel Serbal. Towards the Kaa, 
the central Sinai mountains are very abrupt, and 
leave no secondary intermediate chain between them 
and the chain at their feet. The mountain of Serbal 
is separated from the upper Sinai by some valleys, 
especially Wadij Hebran; and it forms, with several 
neighbouring mountains, a separate cluster, termi- 
nating in peaks, the highest of which appears to be as 
high as Mount St Catherine. Its borders are the 
Wady Feiran and the chain of ZebeinS* 

The climate of the valley in which the convent of 
El Erbayn stands, is described by Burckhardt as most 
delightful. A good garden and orchard are attached 
to the convent; and so brilliant was the verdure, and 
so aromatic the perfume of the orange-trees, that he 
fancied himself transported from the barren cliffs of 
the wilderness to the luxurious groves of Antioch. 
1 It is surprising,' he says, ' that the Europeans 
resident at Cairo do not prefer spending the season of 
the plague in these pleasant gardens and this delight- 
ful climate, to remaining close prisoners in the in- 
fected city.' While in the lower country, and par- 
ticularly on the sea-shore, the thermometer is often 
at from 102° to 105°, and sometimes as high even as 
110°; in the convent, in the month of May, the 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 573 — 5. Several bearings are 
given. El Djoze boreN. W. by N. ; Sarbout el Djemel, N. W. 
1-4 N.; EI Odjme, N. 1-2 E.; Wady Naszeb, extending S. E. 
and E. S. E.; Dahab, E. S. E.; Djebel Massaoud, S. E. by E.; 
Wady Kyd, S. E.;Qm Shomar, S. S. W.jTor, S. W.; Serbal, 
N. W. 1-2 W, 

VOL. I, 15 



154 ARABIA. 

maximum was 75°. The semoum never reaches these 
upper regions, and the climate differs so much from 
that of Cairo, that apricots, which are in season to- 
wards the latter days of April in Egypt, are not ripe 
in the desert of Sinai till the middle of June. The 
valley in which the Erbayn stands, is very narrow and 
stony, many large blocks having rolled into it from 
the mountains: it is called El Ledja* 

At twenty minutes' walk from the convent of El 
Erbayn, a block of granite is shown as the rock out 
of which the water issued when struck by the rod of 
Moses. f It is thus described by Burckhardt: 'It 
lies quite insulated by the side of the path, which is 
about ten feet higher than the lower bottom of the 
valley. The rock is about twelve feet in height, of 
an irregular shape, approaching to a cube. There are 
some apertures upon its surface, through- which the 
water is said to have burst out; they are about twenty 
in number, and lie nearly in a straight line round the 
three sides of the stone. They are for the most part 
ten or twelve inches long, two or three inches broad 
and from one to two inches deep, but a few of them 
are as deep as four inches. Every observer must be 
convinced, on the slightest examination, that most of 
these fissures are the work of art; but three or four 
perhaps are natural, and these may have first drawn 
the attention of the monks to the stone, and have 
induced them to call it the rock of the miraculous 
supply of water. Besides the marks of art evident in 
the holes themselves, the spaces between them have 
been chiselled, so as to make it appear as if the stone 
had been worn in those parts by the action of the 
water; though it cannot be doubted, that if water 
had flowed from the fissures, it must generally have 
taken quite a different direction. One Traveller J saw 

# 

* The name given to a similar rocky district in theHaouran. 
t In the valley of Rephidim. Exod. xvii, 7. 
t Breydenbach. 



ARABIA. 155 

on this stone twelve openings, answering to the num- 
ber of the tribes of Israel; another* describes the 
holes as a foot deep. They were probably told so by 
the monks, and believed what they heard, rather than 
what they saw. 

< About 150 paces further on in the valley, lies an- 
other piece of rock, upon which it seems that the work 
of deception was first begun, there being four or five 
apertures cut in it, similar to those on the other block, 
but in a less finished state. As it is somewhat smaller 
than the former, and lies in a less conspicuous part of 
the valley, removed from the public path, the monks 
thought proper, in process of time, to assign the miracle 
to the other. As the rock of Moses has been described 
by travellers of the fifteenth century, the deception 
must have originated among the monks of an earlier 
period. As to the present inhabitants of the convent and 
of the peninsula, they must be acquitted of any fraud 
respecting it, for they conscientiously believe that it 
is the very rock from whence the water gushed forth. 
In this part of the peninsula, the Israelites could not 
have suffered from thirst. The upper Sinai is full of 
wells and springs, the greater part of which are 
perennial; and on whichever side the pretended rock 
of Moses is approached, copious sources are found 
within an hour of it. The rock is greatly vene- 
rated by the Bedouins, who put grass into the fis- 
sures, as offerings to the memory of Moses, in the 
same manner as they place grass upon the tombs of 
their saint, because grass is to them the most precious 
gift of nature, and that upon which their existence 
chiefly depends. They also bring hither their female 
camels, for they believe that by making the animal 
couch down before the rock, while they recite some 
prayers, and by putting fresh grass into the fissures 
of the stone, the camels will become fertile, and yield 

* Sicard. 



156 



ARABIA. 



an abundance of milk. The superstition is encou- 
raged by the monks, who rejoice to see the infidel 
Bedouins venerating the same object as themselves. 
... A little further down is shown the seat of Moses, 
where it is said that he often sat: it is a small and 
apparently natural excavation in a granite rock, re- 
sembling a chair. Near this is the petrified pot or 
kettle of Moses; a name given to a circular, project- 
ing knob in a rock, similar in size and shape to the 
lid of a kettle. The Arabs have in vain endeavoured 
to break this rock, which they suppose to contain 
great treasures.'* 

The fact, that this part of the peninsula abounds 
with perennial springs, which is attested by every 
traveller, proves decidedly that this cannot be the vale 
of Rephidim. It is astonishing to find such travellers 
as Shaw and Pococke credulously adopting this imbe- 
cile legend. l Here,' says the former, ( we still see 
that extraordinary antiquity, the Rock of Meribah, 
which hath continued down to this day without the 
least injury from time or accidents, i It is a block of 
granite marble, about six yards square,! lying totter- 
ing, as it were, and loose in the midst of the valley, 
and seems to have formerly belonged to Mount Sinai, 
which hangs in a variety of precipices all over this 
plain. The waters which gushed out, and the stream 
which flowed withal, have hollowed across one corner 
of this rock a channel about two inches deep and 
twenty wide, J appearing to be incrusted all over, like 
the inside of a tea-kettle that hath been long in use. 
Besides several mossy productions that are still pre- 
served by the dew, we see all over this channel, a 
great number of holes, some of them four or five 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 578 — 81. 

t According to Pococke, it is 15 feet long, 10 wide, and 12 
high. 
+ Pococke says, e about the breadth of eight inches.' 



ARABIA. 157 

inches deep, and one or two in diameter, the lively 
and demonstrative tokens of their having been for- 
merly so many fountains. It likewise may be further 
observed, that art or chance could by no means be 
concerned in the contrivance. For every circumstance 
points out to us a miracle, and, in the same manner 
with the rent in the rock of Mount Calvary at Jeru- 
salem, never fails to produce a religious surprise in 
all who see it.'* 

That this rock is as truly the Rock of Meribah, as 
the spot alluded to is Mount Calvary, may be freely 
admitted; but the surprise which they are adapted to 
awaken in an intelligent observer, is at the credulity 
of travellers. £ These supernatural mouths,' says 
Sir F. Henniker, c appear to me common crevices in 
the rock:| they are only two inches in depth, and 
their length is not confined to the water-course. That 
the incrustation is the effect of water, I have not the 
slightest doubt, for the rocks close at hand, where 
water is still dripping, are marked in the same man- 
ner: and if a fragment of the cliff were to fall down, 
we should scarcely distinguish between the two. I 
therefore doubt the identity of the stone, and also the 
locality; for, in this place, the miracle w T ould be that 
a mountain so lofty as Mount Sinai should be without 
water!' 

At about forty minutes' walk from Erbayn, where 
the supposed valley of Rephidim, now called El 
Ledja, opens into a plain extending towards the 
N.E.,J there is a fine garden with the ruins of a 

* Shaw's Travels, p. 352. 

t Pococke calls them « cracks;' and, speaking more cautious- 
ly than Shaw, says, that the ' sort of openings or mouths ap- 
pear not to be the work of a tool.' 

$ In this plain, the rebellion and destruction of Koran, Dat- 
han, and Abiram occurred, if we will believe the monks. — 
See? Journal from Cairo to Sinai. That transaction, how- 

VOL. I. 15* 



158 ARABIA. 

small convent, called El Bostan: it is now in the pos- 
session of the Arabs. Water is conducted into it by 
a small channel from a spring in the Ledja. Burck- 
hardt found it full of apricot-trees and roses in full 
blossom.* From this garden it is about half an 
hour's ride to the great convent of Mount Sinai. In 
the way is shown ' the head of the golden calf which 
the Israelites worshipped, transmuted into stone.' 
Both the monks and the Bedoweens, however, call it 
Ras el Bakar (the cow's head). *■ It is a stone, half- 
buried in the ground, which bears some resemblance 
to the forehead of a cow. Some travellers,' adds 
Burckhardt, l have explained this stone to be the 
mould in which Aaron cast the calf, though it is not 
hollow, but projecting; the Arabs and the monks, 
however, gravely assured me, that it was the < cow's 
head' itself. Beyond this object, towards the con- 
vent, a hill is pointed out to the left, called Djebel 
Haroim, because it is believed to be the spot where 
Aaron assembled the seventy elders of Israel. Both 
this and the cow's head have evidently received these 
denominations from the monks and Bedoweens, in 
order that they may multiply the objects of venera- 
tion and curiosity within the pilgrim's tour round the 
convent, 'j* The place where the brazen serpent was 

ever, took place, according to the Scripture narrative, in quite 
a different part of the peninsula, near Mount Hor. — See 
Num. xvi. 

* The author of the Journal, &c, says: 'In the said gar- 
den are nine very stately cedars, of which two exceed the rest 
in height, and are of a prodigious size, besides many other 
trees, such as apples, pears, vines, &c. The little church of 
St Peter and St Paul stands in the'bottom of the garden, as 
also a small building belonging to the convent, which is inha- 
bited by the Arabs who watch the garden.' 

1 The Author of the Journal says: « We came to a place 
where the Greeks showed us, in the granite marble, which is 
of a brick-dust colour, a hole or cavity, where, they say, 
Aaron cast the head of the golden calf. The cavity is, indeed, 



ARABIA. 159 

erected, the burial-place of Moses and Aaron, the 
grotto where St Athanasius lived, the pulpit of 
Moses, and the spot touched by the foot of Mohammed's 
camel on its way to heaven, — are among the other 
sacred places pointed out~to the credulity of pilgrims, 
and identified by the authority of the Fathers! 

But the greatest curiosity would seem to be the 
manna, which is said to be still found in this part 
of the peninsula. Mention has already been made of 
the tarfa, or tamarisk-tree, an evergreen shrub which 
abounds especially in the Wady el Sheikh. c It is 
from the tarfa,' says Burckhardt, ' that the manna 
is obtained; and it is very strange that the fact 
should have remained unknown in Europe till 
M. Seetzen mentioned it in a brief notice of his tour 
to Sinai. This substance is called by the Bedoweens 
mann, and accurately resembles the description of 
manna given in the Scriptures. In the month of 
June, it drops from the thorns of the tamarisk upon 
the fallen twigs, leaves, and thorns which always 
cover the ground beneath that tree in the natural 
state. The manna is collected before sunrise, when 
it is coagulated, but it dissolves as soon as the sun 
shines upon it. The Arabs clean away the leaves, 
dirt, &c, which adhere to it, boil it, strain it through 
a coarse piece of cloth, and put it in leathern skins: 
in this way they preserve it till the following year, 
and use it, as they do honey, to pour over their 
unleavened bread, or to dip their bread into. I could 
not learn that they ever make it into cakes or loaves. 
The manna is found only in years when copious rains 

formed in such a manner as to afford some small resemblance 
to the head of a calf, and hath marks in it something like horns: 
it is in length about two feet and a half, in breadth two feet, 
and in depth two. At the bottom of it is earth or sand, 
which seemed to be about three feet deep. . . The Greeks, to 
impose the more upon the ignorant, say, that though it rain 
ever so much, no water is seen to lie in this hole. J 



160 ARABIA. 

have fallen: sometimes it is not produced at all. I 
saw none of it among the Arabs, but I obtained 
a small piece of last year's produce in the convent, 
where, having been kept in the cool shade and 
moderate temperature of that place, it had become 
quite solid, and formed a small cake. It became soft 
when kept some time in the hand: if placed in the 
sun for five minutes, it dissolved; but, when restored 
to a cool place, it became solid again in a quarter 
of an hour. In the season at which the Arabs gather 
it, it never acquires that state of hardness which will 
allow of its being pounded, as the Israelites are said 
to have done, in Num. xi, 3. Its colour is a dirty 
yellow, and the piece which I saw, was still mixed 
with bits of tamarisk leaves: its taste is agreeable, 
somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey. ^ If eaten 
in any considerable quantity, it is said to be slightly 
purgative. The quantity of manna collected at pre- 
sent, even in seasons when the most copious rains 
fall, is very trifling, perhaps not amounting to more 
than five or six hundred pounds. It is entirely con- 
sumed among the Bedouins, who consider it as the 
greatest dainty which their country affords. The 
harvest is usually in June, and lasts for about six 
weeks: sometimes it begins in May. There are only 
particular parts of the Wady el Sheikh that produce 
the tamarisk; but it is also said to grow in Wady 
JYaszeb, the fertile valley to the S .E. of the convent 
on the road from thence to Sherm. 

'In Nubia, and in every part of Arabia, the 
tamarisk is one of the most common trees; on the 
Euphrates, on the Astaboras, in all the valleys of the 
Hedjaz and the Bedja, it grows in great plenty; but 
I never heard of its producing manna except in 
Mount Sinai. It is true, I made no inquiries on the 
subject elsewhere, and should not perhaps have 
learned the fact here, had I not asked repeated ques- 
tions respecting the manna, with a view to an ex~ 



ARABIA. 361 

planation of the Scriptures. The tamarisk abounds 
more in juices than any other tree of the desert, for it 
retains its vigour when every vegetable production 
around it is withered, and never loses its verdure till 
it dies. It has been remarked by Niebuhr (who, 
during his journey to Sinai, forgot to inquire after 
the manna,) that in Mesopotamia, manna is produced 
by several trees of the oak species. A similar fact 
was confirmed to me by the son of a Turkish lady, 
who had passed the greater part of his youth at Er- 
zeroum, in Asia Minor. He told me that at Moush, 
a town three or four days distant from Erzeroum, a 
substance is collected from the tree which produces 
the galls, exactly similar to the manna of the penin- 
sula in taste and consistency, and that it is used by 
the inhabitants instead of honey. ,# 

The substance alluded to in the last sentence, is 
probably the gum tragacanth, which is obtained from 
a spinous papilionaceous shrub of the genus astra- 
galus, and which is of so strong a body, that a dram 
of it willl give a pint of water the consistency of a 
syrup. The tragacantha is indigenous in Natolia, 
Crete, and Greece. That which JBurckhardt saw, 
would seem to be the gum-arabic to which he refers 
in another part of his travels. Describing the Wady 
Lahyane, between Akaba and Ghaza, he says: '' The 
Arabs had chosen this place, that their camels might 
feed upon the thorny branches of the gum-arabic tree y 
of which they are extremely fond. These poor people 
had no tents with them, and their only shelter from 
the burning rays of the sun and the heavy dews of 
night, were the scanty branches of the talh-trees. 
The ground was covered with the large thorns of 
these trees, which are a great annoyance to the 
Bedouins and their cattle. In the summer, they 
collect the gum-arabic, which they sell at Cairo for 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 569 — 601. 



162 ARABIA. 

about twelve or fifteeh shillings per cwt, English; 
but the gum is of very inferior quality to that of 
Sennaar. My companions ate up all the small pieces 
that had been left upon the trees by the road-side. I 
found it to be quite tasteless, but I was assured that 
it was very nutritive. ' # A little after, however, he 
says: ( The acacia-trees of the valley (Wady JYabk) 
were thickly covered with gum-arabic. The Towara 
Arabs often bring to Cairo loads of it, which they 
collect in these mountains, but it is much less 
esteemed than that from Soudan. I found it of 
a somewhat sweet and rather agreeable taste. The 
Bedouins pretend that, upon journeys, it is a preventive 
of thirst, and that the person who chews it may pass 
a whole day without feeling any inconvenience from 
the want of water.' 

If the talh, or gum-arabic tree, be not the same as 
the tarfa, or tamarisk, it is evidently a shrub of the 
same genus, and the supposed manna must be either 
the real gum-arabic, or a vegetable substance of the 
same kind. The gum-arabic tree has been supposed 
to be the acacia vera, or Egyptian thorn (the 
mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus), which, Hasselquist says, 
the Egyptian Arabs call char ad. This Traveller 
represents the same plant as producing the gum- 
arabic, the gum thus, or frankincense, and the succus 
acacim. It is more probable that they are the gums 
of different species of lomentaceous shrubs. The gum- 
senegal is believed to be obtained from some species of 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 446, 533. Hasselquist gives a stri- 
king instance of the nutritive properties of gum-arabic. In the 
year 1750, the Abyssinian caravan, which crosses the desert of 
Africa to Cairo, found their provisious consumed when they 
had yet two months to travel; they were consequently ' obliged 
to search for something among their merchandise, wherewith 
they might support life in this extremity, and found nothing 
more proper than gum-arabic, of which they had carried a con- 
siderable quantity with them. This served to support above 
1.000 persons for two months.' 



ARABIA. 163 

mimosa, or acacia.* Burckhardt mentions a mimosa, 
called the syale, the bark of which is used to tan 
leather, and which doubtless, therefore, contains a 
gum-resin. From the vague and general terms, how- 
ever, in which this Traveller speaks of c thorny 
mimosas,' tamarisks, and acacias of different species, 
it is impossible to ascertain what are the distinctive 
marks of the talk, the tarfa, the syale, and the other 
varieties, or whether any species of vetch or astra- 
galus may be found in these valleys. In another 
place, describing the productions of the Ghor, or 
valley of the Jordan, he mentions two other trees as 
producing a vegetable gum. * One of the most 
interesting productions of this valley,' he says, ' is 
the Beyrouk honey, or, as the Arabs call it, Jissal 
Beyrouk. I suppose it to be the manna, but 1 never 
had an opportunity of seeing it myself. It was 
described to me as a juice dropping from the leaves 
and twigs of a tree called gharrab, of the size of 
an olive-tree, with leaves like those of a poplar, but 
somewhat broader. The honey collects upon the 

* Hasselquist represents the mimosa nilotica and the mi- 
mosa Senegal as growing together promiscuously in Egypt; but 
the latter, he says, is of no use or value. The former is the 
charad; the latter the Egyptians call fetne. But, unless the 
gum-senegal be the same gum under a different name as the 
o-um-arabic, either the fetne must require a warmer climate to 
be productive, or it cannot be the real gum-senegal. « The 
gum,' says Hasselquist, ' is gathered in vast quantities from the 
trees growing in Arabia Petreea, near the north bay of the Red 
Sea, at the foot of Mount Sinai, whence they bring the gum 
thus (frankincense), so called by the dealers in drugs in Egypt 
from Thur or Thor, which is the name of a harbour near Mount 
Sinai; thereby distinguishing it from the gum-arabic which is 
brought from Suez. ~" Besides the different places from which 
these gums are brought, they differ also in some other particu- 
lars. The gum thus is more pellucid, white, or of no colour 
at all; but the gum-arabic is less pellucid, and of a brownish 
or dirty yellow colour.' This exactly corresponds to Burck- 
hardt's description of the manna he saw in the great convent. 



164 ARABIA. 

leaves like dew, and is gathered from them, or from 
the ground under the tree, which is often found com- 
pletely covered with it. According to some, its colour 
is brownish; others said, it was of a grayish hue. It 
is very sweet when fresh, but turns sour after being 
kept two days. The Arabs eat it like honey with 
butter; they also put it in their gruel, and use it in 
rubbing their water-skins, in order to exclude the air. 
I inquired whether it was a laxative, but was an- 
swered in the negative. The Beyrouk honey is col- 
lected only in the months of May and June. Some 
persons assured me, that the same substance is like- 
wise produced by the thorny tree tereshresh, and col- 
lected at the same time as that from the gharrab.'* 
As this description is given on hearsay information, 
and the accounts did not entirely agree, we cannot 
absolutely depend upon its accuracy. From the simi- 
larity of the name, the gharrah would appear to 
be the char ad of Hasselquist; and the description 
sufficiently corresponds to that given of the tamarisk, 
to warrant our referring it to the same genus. The 
Beyrouk honey, the manna of the iarfa, and the gum 
of the charady will probably be found to be nearly, if 
not altogether, identical. The asheyr, or oshour, a 
species of silk -tree which abounds in the Ghor, also 
yields a white juice of medicinal virtue. On making 
an incision into the thick branches, the juice exudes, 
which the Arabs collect by inserting a hollow reed, 
and sell to the druggists at Jerusalem: it is said to be 
a strong cathartic. The officinal manna, it is well 
known, comes from Calabria and Sicily, where it is 

* Travels in Syria, p. 392. Rauwolf has described a thor- 
ny plant, called algal, as yielding a species of manna, which 
he calls arangubin. Michaelis mentions another thorny plant, 
said to be called alhage. (Quest, xxvi.) These names will 
serve to guide the inquiries of future travellers. 



ARABIA. 1G5 

obtained from a species of ash with a leaf resembling 
that of the acacia.* 

The notion, however, that any species of vegetable 
gum is the manna of the Scriptures, appears so totally 
irreconcilable with the Mosaic narrative, that, not- 
withstanding the learned names which may be cited 
in support of the conjecture,")* it cannot be safely 
admitted as any explanation of the miracle. It is ex- 
pressly said, that the manna was rained from heaven; 
that when the dew was exhaled, it appeared lying on the 
surface of the ground, — < a small, round thing, as small 
as the hoar-frost,' — ' like coriander seed, and its colour 
like a pearl;' that it fell but six days in the week, 
and that a double quantity fell on the sixth day ; that 
what was gathered on the first five days became 
offensive and bred worms if kept above one day, 
while that which was gathered on the sixth day kept 
sweet for two days; that the people had never seen it 
before, which could not possibly be the case with 
either wild-honey or gum-arabic; that it was a sub- 
stance which admitted of being ground in a hand-mill 
or pounded in a mortar, of being made into cakes 
and baked, and that it tasted like wafers made with 
honey; lastly, that it continued falling for the forty 
years that the Israelites abode in the wilderness, but 
ceased on their arriving at the borders of Canaan. J 
To perpetuate the remembrance of the miracle, a pot 
of the manna was to be laid up by the side of the ark, 
which clearly indicates the extraordinary nature of the 
production. In no one respect does it correspond to 
the modern manna. The latter does not fall from 
heaven, it is not deposited with the dew, but exudes 

* The Calabrian manna is said to exude as the effect of the 
puncture of an insect, a species of grasshopper that sucks the 
plant; and Michaelis proposes it as a question for inquiry, 
whether the Arabian manna may be owing to an insect ? 

t Salmasius, Michaelis, and the Editor of Calmet. 

X Exod. xvi; Num. 11; Deut. viii, 3,16; Josh, v, 12. 

VOL. I. 16 



IQQ ARABIA. 

from the trees when punctured, and is to be found only 
in the particular spots where those trees abound ; 
it could not, therefore, have supplied the Israelites 
with food in the more arid parts of the desert, where 
they most required it. The gums, moreover, flow 
only for about a month in the year; they neither 
admit of being ground, pounded, or baked; they do not 
melt in the sun; they do not breed worms; and they 
are not peculiar to the Arabian wilderness. Others 
have supposed the manna to have been a fat and thick 
honey-dew, and that this was the wild honey which 
John the Baptist lived upon,— a supposition worthy 
of being ranked with the monkish legend of St John s 
bread, or the locust-tree,* and equally showing an 
entire ignorance of the nature of the country. It 
requires the Israelites to have been constantly in the 
neighbourhood of trees, in the midst of a wilderness 
often bare of all vegetation. Whatever the manna was, 
it was clearly a substitute for bread, and it is ex- 
pressly called meat, or food.| The abundant supply, 
the periodical suspension of it, and the peculiarity 
attaching to the sixth day's supply, it must at all 
events be admitted, were preternatural iacts, and 
facts not less extraordinary than that the substance 
also should be of an unknown and peculiar descrip- 
tion The credibility of the sacred narrative cannot 
receive the slightest addition of evidence from any 
attempt to explain the miracle by natural causes. 
That narrative would lead any plain reader to expect 
that the manna should no longer be found to exist, 
having ceased to fall upwards of 3,000 years. As to 
the fact that the Arabs give that name to the juice ot 
the for/a, the value of their authority may be esti- 
mated by the pulpit of Moses and the footstep of 
Mohammed's camel. The cause of Revelation has 

* See Mod. Trav., Palestine, p. 173. 

I Deut. viii, 3; PsaSm Ixxviii, 24; John vi, 31,49, 68, and 
1 Cor. x, 3. 



ARABIA. 167 

less to fear from the assaults of open infidels, than 
. from such ill-judged attempts of sceptical philosophers, 
to square the sacred narrative by their notions of pro- 
bability. The giving of the manna was either a 
miracle or a fable. The proposed explanation makes 
it a mixture of both. It admits the fact of a Divine 
interposition, yet insinuates that Moses gives an 
incorrect or embellished account of it. It requires 
us to believe, that the Scripture history is at once 
true and a complete misrepresentation, and that the 
golden vase of manna was designed to perpetuate 
the simple fact, that the Israelites lived for forty 
years upon gum-arabic ! The miracle, as related 
by Moses, is surely more credible than the expla- 
nation. 

We have already seen how little dependence can be 
placed on the local traditions. Burckhardt was much 
disappointed, he says, at being able to trace so very 
few of the ancient Hebrew names of the Old Testa- 
ment in the modern names of the peninsula. l It is 
evident that, with the exception of Sinai and a 
few others, they are all of Arabic derivation.' This 
latter remark, however, is a strange one, since the 
ancient Hebrew names and the ancient Arabic names 
would be nearly identical. But, in the names of 
Djebel Mousa and Djebel Kaierin, so incongruously 
associated, we have a pretty strong proof that the 
modern Arabic appellations are not to be depended 
on. At the risk of unsettling the implicit geo- 
graphical faith of centuries, and drawing down upon 
ourselves the anathemas of the whole brotherhood of 
Mount Sinai, we must intimate the doubt we entertain, 
whether the mountain of Moses be the Mount Sinai 
on which the law was given to Israel. Burckhardt 
has given a description of another still more elevated 
summit, which seems at least to put forth rival preten- 
sions. 

Mount Serbal, the mountain in question, belongs 



1G8 ARABIA. 

to what is called the lower Sinai, which is separated 
from the upper range by Wady Solaf and Wady He- 
bran. On issuing from the narrow valley in which the 
convent stands, two roads may be taken to Suez : that 
which we are about to describe, is the more southern 
of the two, and is supposed to be the one taken by 
Niebuhr. It lies for an hour and a half in a N . N. W. 
direction across the plain of El Raha, then crosses a 
summit of the same name, and descends to a spring 
called Kanaytar, near which are inscriptions. It then 
enters the Wady Solaf (the valley of wine), coming 
from the N.-E., which is here the boundary of the 
upper mountains, and continues slightly to descend 
through sandy ^valleys, till, in a little less than ten 
hours, it issues into the great valley of the western 
Sinai, the Wady el Sheikh* which it descends in a 
direction N. W. by W. ' Upon several rocks of the 
mountains,' says Burckhardt, ' I saw small stone 
huts, which Hamed ' (his guide) < told me, were the 
works of infidels in ancient times: they were probably 
the cells of the hermits of Sinai. Upon the summits 
of three different mountains to the right, were small 
ruined towers, originally, perhaps, chapels, depen- 
dent on the episcopal see of Feiran. In descend- 
ing the valley, the mountains on both sides approach 
so near, that a defile of only fifteen or twenty feet 
across is left. Beyond this they again diverge, when 
a range of the same hills of tafal, or yellow pipe-clay, 
are seen, which I observed in the higher parts of this 
wady.' 

* The Wady Faran of Niebuhr. * Its length,' he says, 
* is equal to a journey of a day and a half, extending from 
the foot of Mount Sinai to the Arabic Gulf. In the rainy sea- 
son it is filled with water, and the inhabitants are then obliged 
to retire up the hills: it was dry when we passed through 
it. That part of it which we saw, was far from being fertile, 
but served as a pasture to goats, camels, and asses. The other 
part' (i. e. the Wady Feiran of Burckhardt) 'is said to be 
very fertile.' 



ARABIA. 169 

After descending the valley for about an hour, the 
traveller enters the plantations of Wady Feiran, 
through a wood of tamarisks. This wady, which 
is a continuation of Wady el Sheikh, is considered 
as the finest valley in this part of the Arabian penin- 
sula. From the upper extremity, an uninterrupted 
succession of gardens and date-plantations extends 
downwards for four miles, and almost every garden 
has a well, by means of which the grounds are irri- 
gated the whole year round.* Amid the date-trees 
are small huts, inhabited by the Tebna Arabs, (a 
branch of the Djebalye,) who are the gardeners of the 
Towara Bedoweens, the lords of the soil, taking one 
third of the fruit for their labour. The proprietors 
seldom visit the place, except in the date-harvest, 
when the valley is filled with people for a month or 
six weeks. l At that season they erect huts of 
palm-branches, and pass their time in conviviality, 
receiving visits and treating their guests with dates;' 
— a custom strikingly similar to the Jewish festival 
of booths (tabernacles). The other productions of 
the valley are, the nebek (rhamnus lotus), the fruit 
of which is a favourite food of the Bedoweens, who 
grind the dried fruit, together with the stone, into a 
sort of meal called bsyse; tobacco, cucumbers, gourds, 
melons, hemp for smoking, onions, and a few badend- 
jans and carob-trees. The narrowness of the valley, 
which is not more than a hundred paces across, the 
high mountains on each side, and the thick woods of 

* ' Leaving the valley leading to Marah on the right band, 
we entered a large vale between very rough mountains, com- 
monly called Gebel Faran, our course then pointing towards 
the N. W. And passing through this vale by a tolerably easy 
descent, we found it adorned with trees and dates on both 
sides of us, here and there interspersed with the habitations of 
Arabs, and full of birds (Oct. 3), which entertained us very 
agreeably with their charming notes.' — Journal from Cairo 
to Mount Sinai. 

VOL. I. 16* 



170 ARABIA- 

date-trees, render the heat extremely oppressive, and . 
the unhealthiness of the situation is increased by the 
badness of the water. Dangerous fevers prevail here 
in the spring and summer, and the valley is almost 
deserted. At the point where it is joined by the 
Wady Jlleyat, it widens, however, considerably, and 
is about a quarter of an hour in breadth. Here, 
Burckhardt says, upon the mountains on both sides 
of the road, stand the ruins of an ancient city* 
i The houses are small, but built entirely of stone, 
some of which are hewn, and some united with 
cement, but the greater part are piled up loosely. I 
counted the ruins of about 200 houses. There are no 
traces of any large edifice on the north side; but, on 
the southern mountain, there is an extensive building, 
the lower part of which is of stone, and the upper 
part of earth. It is surrounded by private habitations, 
which are all in complete ruins. At the foot of the 
southern mountain are the remains of a small aque- 
duct. Upon several of the neighbouring hills are 
ruins of towers; and, as we proceeded down the valley 
for about three quarters of an hour, I saw many small 
grottoes in the rocks on both sides, hewn in the 
rudest manner, and without any regularity or sym- 

* ' We passed by a place on a mountain upon our right hand 
called Kabegin, which was entirely destroyed, nothing remain- 
ing of it but the ruins. And, after a journey of another half- 
hour, we came to another ruined place called Faran, situated 
likewise on our right hand. This was formerly a large cily, 
containing many convents of the Greeks; for it was an episco- 
pal city, under the jurisdiction of Mount Sinai, and formerly 
had the famous Theodoras for its bishop, who wrote against 
the Monothelites. But at present nothing remains, except 
heaps of ruins of this ancient city. In this place, no one is 
suffered to put pen to paper, by reason of a tradition they 
have, that here was formerly a river, and that when a Euro- 
pean was going to write down a description of it, out of 
indignation it sunk under ground, and has disappeared ever 
since.' — Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai. 



ARABIA. 1*71 

metry: the greater part seemed to have been ori- 
ginally formed by nature, and afterward widened by 
human labour. Some of the largest, which were near 
the ruined city, had, perhaps, once served as habita- 
tions: the others were evidently sepulchres; but few 
of them were large enough to hold three corpses, and 
they were not more than three or four feet high. I 
found no traces of antiquity in any of them. At half 
an hour from the last date-trees of Feiran, I saw, to 
the right of the wood, upon the side of the mountain, 
the ruins of a small town or village, the valley in the 
front of which is at present quite barren. It had 
been better built than the town above described, and 
contained one very good building of hewn stone with 
two stories, each having five oblong windows in front. 
The roof has fallen in. The style of architecture 
of the whole strongly resembles that seen in the ruins 
of St Simon to the north of Aleppo, the mountains 
above which are also full of sepulchral grottoes, like 
those near Feiran.* The roofs of the houses appear 
to have been entirely of stone, like those in the 
mined towns of the Haouran, but flat, and not arched 
There were here about a hundred ruined houses. 

c Feiran was formerly the seat of a bishopric. 
Theodosius (Theodorus) was bishop during the mono- 
thelite controversy. From documents of the fifteenth 
century still existing in the convent of Mount Sinai, 
there appears at that time to have been an inhabited 
convent at Feiran. Makrizi, the excellent historian 
and describer of Egypt, who wrote about the same 
time, gives the following account of Feiran, which he 
calls Faran.f ' It is one of the towns of the Amale- 
kites, situated near the borders of the Sea of Kolzoum, 
upon a hill between two mountains, on each of which 

* See Mod. Trav., Syria, vol. i, p. 310. 
t It is so written by Niebuhr, and many of the Bedoweens 
pronounce it Fayran. 



172 ARABIA. 

are numberless excavations full of corpses. It is one 
day's journey distant [in a straight line] from the Sea 
of Kolsoum, the shore of which is there called the 
shore of the sea of Faran; there it was that Pharaoh 
was drowned by the Almighty. Between the city of 
Faran and the Thy it is two days' journey. It is said 
that Faran is the name of the mountains of Mekka, 
and that it is the name of other mountains in the 
Hedjaz, and that it is the place mentioned in the 
books of Moses. But the truth is, that Tor and 
Faran are two districts belonging to the southern part 
of Egypt, and that it is not the same as the Faran 
(Paran) mentioned in the books of Moses . It is 
stated, that the mountains of Mekka derive their 
name from Faran Ibn Amr Ibn Amalyk. Some call 
them the mountains of Faran; others, Fyran. The 
city of Faran was one of the cities which belonged to 
Midian, and remained so to the present times. There 
are plenty of palm-trees there, of the dates of which I 
have myself eaten. A large river flows by. The 
town is at present in ruins. Only Bedouins pass 
there.' Makrizi is certainly right,' continues Burck- 
hardt, c in supposing that the Faran (or Paran) men- 
tioned in the Scriptures is not the same as Feiran ; an 
opinion which has been entertained by Niebuhr and 
other travellers. From the passage in Num. xiii, 26, 
it is evident that Paran was situated in the desert of 
Kadesh, which was on the borders of the country of 
the Edomites, and which the Israelites reached after 
their departure from Mount Sinai, on their road 
towards the land of Edom. Paran must therefore be 
looked for in the desert west of Wady Mousa, and 
the tomb of Aaron, which is shown there. At pre- 
sent, the people of Feiran bury their dead higher 
up in the valley than the ancient ruins. There is 
no rivulet, but, in winter time, the valley is com- 
pletely flooded, and a large stream of water, collect- 
ed from all the lateral valleys of Wady el Sheikh 3 



ARABIA. 173 

empties itself through Wady Feiran into the Gulf of 
Suez. 1 * 

Having with some difficulty obtained a guide to the 
c lower heights of Serbal,' Burckhardt now ascended 
the Wady el Sheikh for about three quarters of an 
hour, and then turned to the right up the narrow 
valley of Wady Ertama. After crossing a steep 
ascent at the further extremity, he fell in with Wady 
Rymm, where are ruins of a small village, the houses 
of which have been built of hewn stone in a very solid 
manner, and some remains of the foundations of a 
large edifice are traceable: a little lower down is 
a well surrounded with date-trees; but the whole 
country round is a rocky and barren wilderness. 
Early the next day, having filled his water-skins at 
Ain Rymm, our adventurous Traveller, with his com- 
panion Hamed and another Arab, began to ascend 
the mountain straight before him. We 'walked,' 
he says, i over sharp rocks without any path, till we 
came to the almost perpendicular sides of the upper 
Serbal, which we ascended in a narrow, difficult cleft. 
The day grew excessively hot; not a breath of wind 
was stirring; and it took us four hours to climb up to 
the lower summit of the mountain, where I arrived 
completely exhausted. Here is a small plain with some 
trees, and the ruins of a small stone reservoir. On 
several blocks of granite are inscriptions, but most of 
them are illegible. After reposing a little, I ascended 
the eastern peak, which was to our left hand, and 
reached its top in three quarters of an hour, after 
great exertions; for the rock is so smooth and slip- 
pery, as well as steep, that, even barefooted as I was, 
I was obliged frequently to crawl upon my belly 
to avoid being precipitated below; and had I not 
casually met with a few shrubs to grasp, I should 
probably have been obliged to abandon my attempt, 

* Travels in Syria, pp. 616 — 618- 



174 ARABIA. 

or have rolled down the cliff. The summit of the 
eastern peak consists of one enormous mass of 
granite, the smoothness of which is broken only by a 
few partial fissures, presenting an appearance not 
unlike the ice-covered peaks of the Alps. The sides 
of the peak, at a few paces below its top, are formed 
of large insulated blocks, twenty or thirty feet long, 
which appear as if just suspended, in the act of rush- 
ing down the steep. Near the top, I found steps 
regularly formed with large loose stones, which must 
have been brought from below, and so judiciously 
arranged along the declivity, that they have resisted 
the devastations of time, and may still serve for 
ascending. I was afterwards told, that these steps 
are the continuation of a regular path from the 
bottom of the mountain, which is in several parts cut 
through the rock with great labour. If we had had a 
guide, we should have ascended by this road, which 
turns along the southern and eastern side of Serbal. 
The mountain has in all five peaks: the two highest 
are, that to the east, which I ascended, and another 
immediately west of it. These rise like cones, and 
are distinguishable from a great distance, particularly 
on the road to Cairo. 

( The eastern peak, which, from below, looks as 
sharp as a needle, has a platform on its summit 
of about fifty paces in circumference. Here is a heap 
of small loose stones, about two feet high, forming a 
circle about twelve paces in diameter. Just below 
the top, I found, on every granite block that presented 
a smooth surface, inscriptions, the far greater part of 
which are legible. I copied three from different 
blocks:* the characters of the first are a foot long. 
There are small caverns large enough to shelter a 

* These and some others are given in the printed volume. 
They are written from right to left, and closely resemble the 
nscriptions copied by Niebuhr. 



ARABIA. 175 

few persons, between some of the masses of stone. 
On the sides of these caverns are numerous inscrip- 
tions similar to those on the blocks. The fact of so 
many inscriptions being found upon the rocks near 
the summit of this mountain, and also in the valley 
which leads from its foot to Feiran, together with the 
existence of the road leading up to the peak, affords 
strong reasons for presuming that the Serbal was an 
ancient place of devotion. It will be recollected that 
no inscriptions are found either on the mountain of 
Moses or on Mount St Catherine; and that those 
which are found in the Ledja valley at the foot of 
Djehel Katerin, are not to be traced above the rock 
from which the water is said to have issued, and 
appear only to be the work of pilgrims. From these 
circumstances, 1 am persuaded that Mount Serhal 
was at one period the chief place of pilgrimage in the 
peninsula, and that it was then considered as the 
mountain where Moses received the tables of the Law; 
though I am equally convinced, from a perusal of the 
Scriptures, that the Israelites encamped in the Upper 
Sinai, and that either Djehel Mousa or Mount St 
Catherine is the real Horeb. It is not at all impos- 
sible, that the proximity of Serbal to Egypt may at 
one period have caused that mountain to be the Horeb 
of the pilgrims, and that the establishment of the 
convent in its present situation, which was probably 
chosen from motives of security, may have led to the 
transferring of that honour to Djebel Mousa. At 
present, neither the monks of Mount Sinai nor those 
of Cairo consider Mount Serbal as the scene of any of 
the events of sacred history; nor have the Bedouins 
any tradition respecting it; but it is possible, that if 
the Byzantine writers were thoroughly examined, 
some mention might be found of this mountain, which 
I believe was never before visited by any European 
traveller. 

'The direction of Deir Sigillye (qu. Cecilia?) was 



176 ARABIA. 

pointed out to me, — a ruined convent on the S. E. 
side of Serbal, near the road which leads up to the 
summit. It is said to be well built and spacious, and 
there is a . copious well near it. It is four or five 
hours distant, by the shortest road, from Feiran, and 
lies in a very rocky district, at present uninhabited 
even by Bedouins.* 

i I found great difficulty in descending. If I had 
had a plentiful supply of water, and either of us had 
known the road, we should have gone down by the 
steps; but our water was nearly exhausted, and in 
this hot season, even the hardy Bedouin is afraid to 
trust to the chance only of rinding a path or a spring. 
I was therefore obliged to return by the same way 
which I had ascended; and by crawling, rather than 
walking, we reached the lower platform of Serbal just 
about noon, and reposed under the shade of a rock. 
I was afterwards informed, that in a cleft of the rock, 
not far from the stone tank, there is a small source 
which never dries up. We had yet a long journey to 
make. Hamed, therefore, volunteered to set out 
before me to fill the skin in the valley below, and to 
meet me with it at the foot of the cleft by which 
we had entered the mountain. He departed, leaping 
down the mountain like a gazelle, and, after prolong- 
ing my siesta, I leisurely followed him with the other 
Arab. When we arrived, at the end of two hours 
and a half, at the point agreed upon, we found Hamed 
wait ng for us with the water, which he had brought 
From a well, at least five miles distant. Instead of 
purs ring, from our second halting-place, the road by 
which we had ascended in the morning from Ain 
Rymm, we took a more western direction to the left 

* From the peak, Burckhardt took several bearings : Wady 
Feiran, N. W, by N. ; Wady el Sheikh, where it appears 
broadest, E. N. E. ; Nakb el Raha, E. S. E. ; Mount St 
Catherine, S. E. by E. ; Om Shomar, S. S. E. 



ARABIA. 177 

of the former, and reached by a less rapid descent the 
Wady Aleyat, which leads to the lower parts of Wady 
Feiran. After a descent of an hour, we came to a 
less rocky country. At the end of an nour and a 
half, we reached the well, situated among date-planta- 
tions where he had filled the skins: its water is very 
good, much better than that of Feiran. This valley 
is inhabited by Bedouins during the date-harvest' 
and here are. many huts, built of stones or of date- 
branches, which they then occupy. In the evening, 
we continued our route in the valley Aleyat, in the 
direction N. W. To our right was a mountain, upon 
the top of which is the tomb of a sheikh, held in great 
veneration by the Bedouins, who frequently visit it 
and there sacrifice sheep. It is called El Monadjal 
The custom among the Bedouins of burying their 
saints upon the summits of mountains, accords with a 
similar practice of the Israelites. There are very few 
Bedouin tribes who have not one or more tombs of 
protecting saints (makam), in whose honour they offer 
sacrifices: the custom probably originated in their 
ancient idolatrous worship, and was in some measure 
retained by the sacrifices enjoined by Mohammed in 
the great festivals of the Islam. In many parts of 
this valley stand small buildings, ten or twelve feet 
square and five feet high, with very narrow entrances, 
They are built with loose stones, but so well put to- 
gether, that the greater part are yet entire, notwith- 
standing the annual rains. They are all quite empty. 
I at first supposed them to be magazines belonging to 
the Arabs, but my guides told me, that their country- 
men never entered them, because they were kohour el 
kofar, tombs of infidels, — perhaps of the early Chris- 
tians of the peninsula. I did not, however meet 
with any similar structures in other parts unless 
those in the upper part of Wady Feiran are of the 
same class. In the course of my descent from the 
vql. i, 17 



178 ARABIA. 

foot of Mount Seibal through Wady Jlleyat, I found 
numerous inscriptions on blocks by the side of the 
road. On many stones were drawings of goats and 
camels. T*his was once, probably, the main road to 
the top of Serbal, which continued along its foot, and 
turned by Deir Sigillye round its eastern side; thus 
passing the cleft and the road by which we ascended, 
and which no where bears traces of having ever been 
a regular and frequented route.'* 

There can be little doubt that these inscriptions, 

* At sunset, Burckhardt reached Wady Feiran. The 
next day but one, he pursued his journey to Suez. The val- 
ley winds W. N. W. and N. W. < At two hours, for the length 
of about an hour, it bears the name of Wady el Beka (the 
valley of weeping).' At three hours and a half, the route 
passes Wady Romman, soon after which the granite forma- 
tion is succeeded by sandstone. At six hours and a hall, it 
enters Wady Mokatteb, which extends for three hours in a 
N. W. direction. The sandstone cliffs are thickly covered 
with inscriptions, which are continued, with intervals of a few- 
hundred paces only, for at least two hours and a half, bim- 
ilar inscriptions are found in the lower part of the valley. 
They all consist of short lines, written from right to left, and 
with the same singular character ( \// ) invariably at the be- 
ginning of each. Some of them are at a height of twelve or 
fifteen & feet. Among them are many in Greek, containing, 
probably, Burckhardt conjectures, the names of pilgrims. 
Some of the latter, he says, contain Jewish names in Greek 
characters. There is also a vast number of drawings of moun- 
tain-goats and camels, the latter sometimes loaded, or with 
riders. Crosses are also seen in these inscriptions. lhe 
Mokatteb is a much easier and more frequented route than the 
upper road by Naszeb, and the cliffs are so situated as to afford a 
fine shade at mid-day. This was the route taken by Niebuhr. 
Burckhardt halted at the end of nine hours and a quarter, 
near the lower extremity of the valley, there called beyfi 
Seeder The next day, he went six hours, to Morkha, and 
thence followed the shore for three quarters of an hour, to 
Birket Faraoun. lhe* third day, after a march of eleven 
hours, he reached Gharendel ; the fourth day, he halted iri 
the lower part of Wady Szeder ; and on the fifth, reached 



Su€Z. 



ARABIA. 179 

tombs, and ruins are of a date anterior to the convent 
of St Catherine ; and Burckhardt's opinion has the 
highest degree of probability in its favour, that Mount 
Serbai was the original Mount Sinai of pilgrims. The 
monastery of St Catherine, we have seen, was 
founded no further back than the beginning of the 
sixth century, in the reign of Justinian, by Greek 
monks. The names of Djebel Mousa, Mount Sinai, 
Mount Horeb, &c, indiscriminately applied to this 
mountain, cannot, as local designations, be traced fur- 
ther back. Mount Sinai is two or three times men- 
tioned in the Koran, in connexion with a ridiculous 
legend;* but, in neither instance is there any refer- 
ence to its geographical situation. The name of Sinai 
is of doubtful etymology . The words senah and sinan, 
from which it is supposed to be derived, signify a 
bush, coldness, and the dwarf palm. The manner in 
which Horeb and Sinai are used as convertible terms 
in the sacred writings, has led to the supposition that 
they must be twin summits of the same mountain; 
and this idea probably led to the fixing upon Djebel 
Mousa and Djebel Katerin as Sinai and Horeb. For 
this opinion, however, there is no solid foundation. 
Horeb and Sinai were in some sense the same; but it 
may be questioned whether Horeb was the proper 
name of any summit : it was rather the name of the 
region, i. e. the desert country.")" Whereas Sinai is 

* c Call to mind also when we accepted your covenant, and 
lifted up the mountain of Sinai over you.' — Sale's Koran, 
chap, ii, The Mohammedan tradition is, that the Israelites 
refusing to receive the law of Moses, God tore up the moun- 
tain by the roots, and shook it over their heads, to terrify them 
into compliance. In chap, xcv, entitled ' The Fig,' Mount 
Sinai is associated with the sacred territory of Mekka, ' the 
fig' (supposed to denote a mountain near Damascus,) and 
'the olive' (M. Olivet). 

t ' The Lord made a covenant with us in Horeb.' Deut. 
v, 2. ' They made a calf in Horeb.' Psalm cvi, 19. ' The 
rock in Horeb.' Exod. xvii, ,6. See also Exod. iii, 1, where 



IgO ARABIA* 

always spoken of as the mount f and it probably de- 
rived its name from the vegetation which covered it, — 
perhaps from the bush or thorny plant (acacia?) out of 
the midst of which the angel of the Lord appeared to 
Moses in a meteoric flame. The language of Scrip- 
ture would lead us to suppose that Sinai was a de- 
tached mountain in the midst of a plain, and that 
Israel encamped around it. The double summit of 
the modern Sinai, formed by Mount Moses and 
Mount Catherine, makes against its identity. The 
wilderness of Mount Sinai was at some distance from 
the barren plain of Rephidim, in which Joshua ob- 
tained a victory over the Amalekites; yet, the rock 
Was f in Horeb,' from which, on being struck by the 
rod of Moses, in the sight of the elders who accom- 
panied him thither, a stream gushed out sufficiently 
copious to supply the camp in Rephidim. | Horeb, 
therefore, was a rocky district which either bordered 
on both Rephidim and Sinai, or comprehended the 
latter; and it certainly included the plain in which 
the Israelites remained while Moses ascended Mount 
Sinai, for it was 'in Horeb' that they provoked 
the Almighty by the worship of the calf. J That 
which is specifically called the wilderness of Mount- 
Sinai, must have been lower ground than the plain of 
Rephidim, if, as is generally supposed, the stream 
took its course in that direction, and l followed 
them'§ so as to afford a supply of water during the 
twelve months that they remained encamped in that 

€ the mount of God' may be rendered ' the great mountain (of 
Horeb) ;' and 1 Kings xix, 8, where Horeb apparently de- 
notes the country, and the mount of God, or the great moun- 
tain, the particular spot. 

* Exod. xviii, 20 ; Acts vii, 30, 38; Gal. iv, 25. Josephus 
Calls it Hivxtov ego;. 

t Compare Exod. xvii, with xix, 1, 2, and Psalm lxxxiii, 20. 

$ Deut. ix, 8; Psalm cvi, 19. 

§ 1 Cor. x, 4; Deut. ix, 21. 



ARABIA. 181 

district. The brook itself, perhaps, we can scarcely 
be warranted to look for as still in existence; and yet, 
it is more likely to remain as a monument of the 
Divine power, than either the manna or the palm- 
trees of Elim, as it evidently proceeded from a spring 
miraculously produced, and was not a mere torrent, 
but began to flow in the dry season, about the begin- 
ning of May. The immediate vicinity of Sinai af- 
forded pasturage;* it would otherwise have been im- 
possible for the Israelites to have remained so long in 
that place; and its name suggests that it abounded 
with some species of acacia. Josephus describes Sinai 
as an extremely pleasant place, and the Israelites ap- 
pear to have lived here much at their ease. This ill 
corresponds to the neighbourhood of Djtbel Mousaj\ 

* Exod. xxxiv, 3. 

t The side of Djebel Katerin, however, affords excellent 
pasturage. Dr Shaw terms Sinai ' a beautiful plain, more than 
a league in breadth, and nearly three in length,' closed to the 
southward by some of the lower eminences of Sinai. « In 
this direction, likewise,' he adds, « the higher parts of it make 
such encroachments upon the plain, that they divide it into 
two, each of them capacious enough to receive the whole en- 
campment of the Israelites. That which lieth to the eastward 
of the mount may be the desert of Sinai, properly so called.' 
The other he supposes to be Rephidim. Compare with this 
Niebuhr's description, and it is hard to suppose the same place 
is referred to. ' It will appear, then, that the mountain which 
the Greeks call Sinai, is not in a great plain, as many people 
may have supposed. It does not follow, however, that the 
Sinai of the Greeks is not the true Sinai, for even our Arabs 
gave the name of Djabbel Mousa (the mountains of Moses) 
to . the whole of the chain of mountains from the valley of 
Faran, and that of Tour Sina to the part on which the mo- 
nastery is built. Moreover, some learned Europeans who have 
had an opportunity of examining this country with much ex- 
actness, are of opinion, that it is on this mountain that Moses 
received the law. Thus, although on that side, and close to 
Mount Sinai properly so called, there would not have been 
room for a camp so numerous as that of the Israelites, there 

VOL. I. 17* 



|32 ARABIA. 

Further, one would expect that the real Mount Sinai 
Would be found to exhibit some traces of the stu- 
pendous phenomena which attended the manifestation 
of the Divine presence in the visible symbols of fire, 
and earthquake, and seemingly volcanic eruption. In 
no part, however, of the Upper Sinai could Burckhardt 
detect the slightest traces of a volcano or of any vol- 
canic production. We do not, indeed, read of any 
actual discharge from the mountain; but, as it is ex- 
pressly said to have ' burned with fire,' to have 
emitted smoke l like a furnace,' and to have < quaked 
greatly,' some marks of the convulsion and of the 
action of fire might yet be looked for on the site of 
this wonderful transaction. 

It does not appear that Mount Serbal, any more 
than the supposititious Sinai, exhibits any appearances 
of this kind ; and its five peaks, according to the view 
now taken of the subject, militate against the idea 
that it is the Horeb of Scripture. That it was first 
selected as the representative of Sinai, was owing, 
probably, to its great elevation. Burckhardt had no 
means of taking measurement of the different eleva- 
tions, but it appeared to him higher than all the 
neaks, including Mount St Catherine.* It is alto- 
are, perhaps, larger plains on the other side, or they may have 
encamped round Djabbel Mousa, and so partly even in the 
Galley of Faran.' He states the convent of St Catherine to 
be two German miles and a half up the mountain, and says : 
* It is not easy to comprehend how such a multitude as accom- 
panied Moses out of Egypt, could encamp in those narrow 
gulleys, amid frightful and precipitous rocks ; but perhaps 
there are plains that we know not of on the other side of the 
mountains.' — Voyage en d?'abie, torn, i, p. 200. Pink- 
erton's Voy. and Trav. vol. x, p. 10. 

* Travels, p. 60S. It is added, ' and very little lower than 
JDjebel Mousa. 7 But this must be an error, since Mount St 
Catherine is higher than the mountain of Moses, and Burck- 
hardt elsewhere (p. 596) speaks of Mount Serbal, Mount St 
Catherine, and Mount Shomar, as the three highest peaks in 



ARABIA. 183 

gether a gratuitous hypothesis, however, that Sinai 
was a pre-eminently high mountain. The authority 
on which Mount Serbal appears once to have been 
designated as the mount of God, though somewhat 
earlier, is not more to be depended upon than that of 
the monks in Justinian's time. The latter were 
Greeks; the monks of Serbal and Feiran were, per- 
haps, Syrian or Egyptian Christians of the fourth or 
fifth century. It is not impossible, indeed, that 
Mount Serbal may have been consecrated and made 
into a Sinai subsequently to the era of Justinian; 
that it was a rival establishment; or, that it was fre- 
quented at the time that access to Djehel Mousa was 
impracticable. But the absence of inscriptions on the 
latter mountain is a suspicious circumstance, and 
makes strongly against its prior claim. After all, 
Mount St Catherine may he the real Sinai: there is 
every reason to believe that Djehel Mousa is not. 
The design of these remarks has been, to assist future 
travellers in investigating these several localities 
afresh, and for themselves. Let them dismiss from 
their minds alike the legends of monks and the con- 
flicting hypotheses of learned writers, taking the 
Scripture narrative as their best clue, and we may 
then hope to have at least some further light thrown 
upon this interesting geographical problem.* 

the peninsula. Mr FazakerJey, from the top of Djebel Kate- 
rin, saw Sinai far below him. Yet, in Calmet's Dictionary, 
Sinai is said to be at least one-third part higher than ' Horeb,' 
and its ascent ' more upright and difficult.' On its summit, it 
is added, « is built a little chapel called St Catherine's, where 
it is thought the body of this saint rested for 360 years, until 
it was removed into a church at the foot of the mountains.' 
This shows that Djebel Katerin is meant, and looks as if that 
mountain was formerly taken for Sinai. 

* Supposing Elim to be at El Waadi, near Tor, the sta- 
tions of the Israelites will require to be ascertained between 
that place and Sinai; and four hours, or about fifteen miles, 
will probably be as great a distance as can be assigned to a 



184 



ARABIA. 



Mention has been made, in the preceding paragraph, 
of the mountain called Om Shomar, as ohe of the 

day's journey. From Elim, the children of Israel journeyed 
to the coast of the Red Sea, taking, probably, a southerly 
course, and encamped there. They then left the coast, and 
encamped in the wilderness of Sin, which is stated to be be- 
tween Ehm and Sinai, and which may possibly be El Kaa. 
On leaving the wilderness of Sin, they first encamped at 
Dophkah (in the Septuag. vers. Raphaka); next at Alush; and 
thence removed to Rephidim, < w'here was no water for the 
people to drink.' On departing from Rephidim, they pitched 
in the wilderness of Sinai. Two circumstances would influ- 
ence their line of march; — the necessity of finding water and 
pasture for the herds, and the character of the inhabitants of 
the territory. It was at Rephidim that the y first encountered 
the opposition of a powerful tribe; but it does not appear that 
they had hitherto invaded the territory of Amalek. The same 
caution is observed by the Bedo weens still. We learn, more- 
t over, from Burckhardt, that pilgrims who have been cut off 
from the caravan, and who are ignorant of the road across the 
desert to Cairo, < sometimes make the tour of the whole 
peninsula by the sea-side, as they are thus sure not to lose 
their way, and m winter time seldom fail to find pools of wa- 
ter.' {Travels in Syria, p. 504.) Is not this likely to 
have been the very course adopted by Moses ? Yet, all our 
travellers have first taken the situation of Sinai for granted 
and then looked out for the shortest route as the course of the 
Israelites. 

The situation of Elim, however, has not yet been satisfac- 
torily verified. Mr Fazakerley, describing the spot alluded to 
under the name of El Waadi, mentions two suspicious cir- 
cumstances: first, there is an hospitium near the spot, belong- 
ing to the convent of Mount Sinai, — a bad omen; and se- 
condly, the springs, he says, are of hot salt water! The 
Arabs told him that the waters had been turned salt, as the 
punishment incurred by an insult offered here to Moses It 
appears, indeed, that they are not all hot. Dr Shaw says- 
_ ±be water of Hammam Mousa, among the wells of Elim 
is moderately warm and sulphureous: but that of the weHs is 
brackish, and of a crude digestion, creating those serophulous 
tumours, that sallowness of complexion, and those obstructions 
in the bowels, which are too much complained of by the in- 
habitants of Tor who drink them.' ( Travels, p. 380.) Can 
this be Elim ? r ' 



ARABIA. 185 

highest mountains in the peninsula. Burckhardt had 
been informed by both the Bedowecns and the monks, 

If Djebel Katerin be Mount Sinai, it will deserve consi- 
deration, whether the wilderness or plain of Sinai may not be 
the broad valley into which the Ledja opens ? Can Wady 
JRahaba be Rephidim ? Burckhardt mentions a secondary 
mountain, called Senned, between the Upper Sinai and 
Hadhra, bordering upon Wady Sal. The apparent approach 
of this name to Sinai, may deserve attention. 

Lord Valentia has started an opinion which deserves some 
attention, respecting the route of the Israelites to the Red Sea. 
He supposes the province of Goshen or Ramesses, from which 
they set out, to have been situated in the isthmus of Suez, and 
Heroopolis, which was on the direct road from On or Helio- 
polis to Canaan, to have been in Goshen. Ptolemy places it 
on the confines of ikrabia, and states that the canal of Trajan 
ran through it. ' The course of that canal has been traced by 
the French engineers from long. 31° 52' to 32° 20', running 
nearly east and west in about N. lat. 30° 32'; it is, therefore, 
within this line only,' remarks the noble Traveller, ' that we 
can look for it; and I am inclined to admit the opinion of M. 
Ayme as well founded, that the ruins he discovered at Abou- 
kechied, indicate the spot where Heroopolis stood, and where, 
consequently, the children of Israel resided The French en- 
gineers discovered, when in possession of Suez, that at a little 
distance to the north of that place are marshes which extend 
for about twenty-five miles, and which are actually lower than 
the sea, though they are not overflowed, in consequence of a 
large bar of sand which has been accumulated between them; 
nothing, therefore, can be more probable, than that, in times 
so far back, the sea extended to these marshes.' This being 
once admitted to be the situation of Ramesses, it will appear 
improbable that the Israelites, in attempting to escape from 
Egypt, should turn southward, to the very banks of the holy 
river, round Djebel Mokattem, and so enter the valley which 
extends thence to the Red Sea. In Exod. xiii, 17, it is de- 
clared that ' God led them not through the way of the land of 
the Philistines, although that was near; but God led the peo- 
ple about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.' 
Now, adds his lordship, ' both these observations are perfectly 
true, if they set off from the vicinity of Heroopolis, which was 
actually on the way to Canaan, but would be false, if they 
began their journey from opposite Memphis, whence it would 



186 ARABIA. 

that a thundering noise, like repeated discharges of 
heavy artillery, is heard at times in the mountains in 
that direction; and the ikonomos of the convent told 
him, that he remembered to have heard the noise at 
four or five separate periods. Anxious to ascertain 
the truth of this report, he resolved to visit the 
mountain itself. The route led him along Wady 
Sebaye, till, at the end of an hour and a half from the 
convent, he turned to the right from the road to 
Sherm, and entered Wady Owasz in a direction 
S. by W., where a small chain of white and red sand- 
be much nearer to reach the Red Sea than the land of the 
Philistines. By the supposition that the children of Israel 
resided nearer to the desert, we get rid of the difficulty of 
their having to march sixty miles in only three stages, which 
is the distance from the Nile to the Red Sea, and which seems 
almost impossible, encumbered as they were with children, 
cattle, baggage, and kneading-troughs; even supposing that 
their three marches were in a direct line east, which appears 
to have been by no means the case; for they were directed, 
after the second day's march, when they quitted Etham on 
the edge of the wilderness, to turn and encamp before Piha- 
heroth between Migdol and the sea.' The noble Traveller 
inclines, therefore, to Niebuhr's opinion, that Djebel Attakah 
was ' the southern boundary of their journey.' 

Dr Shaw admits, that the distance from the neighbourhood 
of Cairo to the valley of Baideah, by the road which he sup- 
poses the Israelites to have taken, would be too great to be 
accomplished by the Israelites in three days, being not Jess 
than 30 hours, or 90 Roman miles. But he gets over the dif- 
ficulty, by supposing that Josephus and those who have fol- 
lowed him, have been ' too hasty in making the Israelites per- 
form this journey in three days, by reckoning, as they do, a 
station for a day.' Certainly there is no more reason "to sup- 
pose that Succoth and Etham were but a day's journey apart, 
than that Elim was only that distance from Marah. If Dr 
Shaw's supposition be inadmissible in the one case, then El 
Waadi cannot be Elim. If Lord Valentia's conjecture be 
adopted, the Israelites must be supposed to have crossed the 
Red Sea above Suez, and the wilderness of Etham (Num. 
xxxiv, 8) may possibly be the El Ahtha of Burckhardt. See 
p. 114. 



ARABIA. 



187 



stone hills rises in the midst of the granite formation. 
At four hours and a half, after crossing several hills, 
he reached Wady Rahaha, one of the principal 
valleys on this side of the peninsula, and affording 
good pasturage. Here he halted under a granite rock 
in the middle of the valley, close by about a dozen 
small buildings,, called by the Bedoweens makhsen 
(magazines), where they deposite provisions, clothes, 
money, and other articles which they do not require 
in their continual migrations. Almost every Be- 
doween in easy circumstances, we are told, has one 
of these magazines, which may be met with in clus- 
ters of ten or twenty in different parts of the moun- 
tains. ' They are at most ten feet high, generally 
about ten or twelve feet square, constructed with loose 
stones, covered with the trunks of date-trees, and 
closed with a wooden door and lock. These buildings 
are altogether so slight, and the doors so insecure, 
that a stone would be sufficient to break them open. 
No watchmen are left to guard them, and they are in 
such solitary spots that they might easily be plun- 
dered in the night, without the thief being ever dis- 
covered. But such is the good faith of the Towara 
towards each other, that robberies of this kind are 
almost unheard of; and the Sheikh Szaleh, whose 
magazine is well known to contain fine dresses, 
shawls, and dollars, considers his property as safe 
there as it would be in the best secured building in a 
large town. The Towara are well entitled to pride 
themselves on this trait in their character; for 
I found nothing similar to it among other Be- 
douins.'* 

Continuing his route along a side branch of the 

* Burckhardt was shown a rock in Wady Shebeyke, from 
which, some years before, a Towara Bedoween had precipita- 
ted his son, bound hands and feet, ' because he had stolen 
corn out of a magazine belonging to a friend of the family.' 



188 ARABIA. 

Hahaba, he ascended, at the end of five hours and 
a half, a rocky mountain; and soon after, the narrow 
passes became too rocky for the camel to traverse. 
Leaving it in the charge of one of his Arab guides, 
our Traveller now proceeded on foot. The winding 
defile of Wady Zcreigye is thickly overgrown with 
fennel three or four feet high, the stalks of which are 
eaten by the Bedoweens, who believe that it cools the 
blood. In one part, he came to two copious springs^ 
most picturesquely situated under the shade of large 
wild fig-trees, which abound in other parts of this 
district. At the end of eight hours, he arrived at 
the lower extremity of the wady, where it joins the 
narrow valley which extends along the foot of Om 
Shomar. The almost perpendicular cliffs of that 
mountain now rose before him, and the aspect of the 
country assumed a savage wildness. i The devasta- 
tions of torrents are every where visible, the sides of 
the mountains being rent by them in numberless 
directions. The surface of the sharp rocks is black- 
ened by the sun; all vegetation is dry and withered; 
and the whole scene presents nothing but utter 
desolation and hopeless barrenness.' He ascended 
the valley towards the S.JE., winding for about an 
hour round the foot of the mountain, till he reached 
the well of Romhan, distant nine hours from the con- 
vent. Here there is a fine spring, with several date- 
trees and a gigantic fig-tree; high grass grows in 
the narrow pass near it; and on the side of the 
mountain, just above the well, is a ruined convent 
called Deir Anions (St Anthony?). It was inhabited 
in the beginning of the eighteenth century, and ? 
according to the monks, was the last convent aban- 
doned by them. Burckhardt found it mentioned in 
records of the fifteenth century, in the library of 
the great convent. i It was then one of the principal 
settlements, and caravans of asses, laden with corn 
and other provisions, passed by this place regularly 



ARABIA, 189 

from the convent to Tor; for this is the nearest road 
to that harbour, though it is more difficult than the 
more western route, which is now usually followed. 
The convent consisted of a small, solid building, con- 
structed with blocks of granite. I w 7 as told, that 
date-plantations are found higher up in the valley of 
Romhan, and that the monks formerly had their 
gardens there, of which some of the fruit-trees still 
remain.' 

Our Traveller rested at the well for the night, and 
early the next morning ascended the mountain. It 
took him an hour and a half to reach the first summit 
of Shomar, and he employed three hours in visiting, 
separately, all the surrounding heights. Om Shomar 
consists chiefly of granite; the lower stratum is red, 
but, towards the top, the large proportion of white 
feldspath, and the smallness of the particles of horn- 
blende and mica, give it, he says, at a distance, the 
appearance of chalk. In the middle of the mountain, 
between the granite rocks, are broad strata of brittle, 
black slate, mixed with layers of quartz and feldspath, 
and with micaceous schistus. The quartz includes 
thin strata of mica of the most brilliant white, which 
is quite dazzling in the sunshine, and strikingly con- 
trasts with the blackened surface of the slate and red 
granite. The highest peak of Om Shomar is appa- 
rently inaccessible: it rises to a point, and the sides 
are almost perpendicular, as well as so smooth as 
to afford no foot-hold. Burckhardt halted at about 
200 feet below, where a beautiful view presented 
itself, opening upon the Gulf of Suez. Tor was dis- 
tinctly visible, and the wide plain of El Kaa was 
seen extending itself immediately beneath, to the 
low chain of Hemam, which separates it from the 
sea.* The southern side of the mountain is very 

* In this low chain, is the Djebel Narkous, or mountain of 
the bell, referred to at page 127, which Burckhardt states, upon 
VOL. I. 18 



190 ARABIA. 

abrupt; and in this direction there is no secondary 
chain in the descent from Sinai to the coast. Burck- 

hearsay, to be about five hours northward of Tor. It is, ac- 
cording to Mr Fazakerley, just half that distance. The latter 
Traveller's account of the phenomenon so singularly differs from 
Sir F. Henniker's story, that it is hard to suppose they both 
describe the same place. ' About an hour and a half from El 
Waadi,' (distant a mile from Tor,) ' keeping along the shore 
of the sea, we came to the foot of a high precipice, and a bank 
of fine white sand, which went in a rapid slope nearly to the 
top of it. It is pretended here, as at the ancient Memnon, 
that the noises are heard only when the sun is at a particular 
height; and the hour at which we got there, was fortunately 
favourable for the experiment. Elias crossed himself devoutly, 
looked a little frightened, and then scrambled up the bank. 
When he was about half the way up, he stopped, and began 
to slide down again: during which we distinctly heard a sound, 
sometimes like one piece of metal struck against another; 
sometimes the sound was more continued, and reminded us of 
the musical glasses. We then went up ourselves, and, as 
we were sliding down, the same sound was produced, louder 
or softer, as we pressed more or less against the sand. We 
felt too, very sensibly, a sort of quivering or vibration, pro- 
ceeding, as it seemed, from something immediately under the 
surface of the sand, and this feeling always accompanied the 
sound. The sand on the surface is light and dry, and, digging 
as deep as I could with my hands and a dagger, I found only 
a bed of moister sand. Whether there is any cavity below, 
or from what causes the phenomenon may arise, I cannot pre- 
tend to guess; but I have attempted to set down correctly 
what we heard and felt. The Greeks and Arabs agree in 
calling it miraculous, and never expect to hear the sound until 
St Catherine or Mahomet has been invoked. They have, 
of course, a crowd of legends about saints, and departed 
priests, and demons, and good and evil genii, who celebrate 
their respective mysteries under this incomprehensible bank of 
sand.' (Walpole's Collect, of Travels in the East, p. 
382.) Here is no gap, no rumbling thunder, as in Sir F. Hen- 
niker's account: and, on the other hand, he heard no metallic 
sound such as is here described, and which has evidently given 
its name to the mountain. Burckhardt says, the Bedoweens 
believe that the bells belong to a convent buried under the 
sands. The sound is, doubtless, produced by the falling of 



ARABIA. 191 

hardt was unable to discover the slightest marks 
of volcanic action, to which he supposed the thunder- 
ing noise might be attributable; nor did he observe 
any thing which could throw light on the alleged 
phenomenon. The direction from which a sound may 
seem to come is, however, a very uncertain guide; 
and the assertions of the Bedoweens on this subject 
must have some foundation. Volcanic rocks are 
found near Sherm. 

Another excursion made by this enterprising Tra- 
veller, was from the Great Convent eastward to the 
Gulf of Akaba; a track previously unexplored by any 
modern traveller, and of which, in as compressed a 
form as possible, we shall give the topographical 
details. 

Mr Burckhardt left the convent early on the 4th 
of May (1816), but proceeded the first day only as far 
as the well of Jlbou Szoueyr, situated in a narrow 
inlet in the eastern chain, which leads into the Wady 
el Sheikh. From this place, he ascended a hilly 
country for half an hour, and then, after a short 
descent, < which terminates the district of Sinai 
on this side,' entered on a wide, open plain with 
low hills, called Szoueyry; direction N.E. by E. In 
an hour and a half, he entered a narrow and ex- 
tremely barren valley, running between the lower 
ridges of the primitive mountains, called Wady Sal. 
He continued to pursue the windings of this valley 
E. by N. and E.N. E., descending slightly, till, at the 
end of seven hours, he issued from it into a small 
plain, which he crossed in half an hour. He then 
entered another similar Valley, where the descent 
was very rapid, which, in nine hours and a half, 

the sand; but what it meets with in the cavity, it must be left 
for some future Belzoni to reveal. It were almost a pity, how- 
ever, to spoil the legend. 



192 ARABIA. 

led into a broader valley running southward, having 
for its soil a deep sand. In Wady Sal, the granite 
rocks had given place to porphyry, griinstein, and 
slate; in the lower valley, a gray, small-grained 
granite had reappeared; but now the sandstone 
formation begins. After a march of eleven hours, 
he alighted in the plain of Haydar, which appears 
to form the northern sandy boundary of the Lower 
Sinai chain. About six or eight miles to the left, 
runs a long and straight chain of mountains, sup- 
posed to be the continuation of El Tyh. Over this 
plain leads the direct road from the convent to 
Akaba, and thence to Hebron and Jerusalem. That 
which Burckhardt took, descends to the sea. 

The route of the next day lay N.E. by N. over the 
gravelly plain, having an open country with low 
hills to the east, till, at one hour and a half, it 
descended a valley of deep sand contracting into a 
narrow defile. Mount St Catherine here bore S.W. 
by W. The pass issued in a rough, rocky plain inter- 
sected by beds of torrents. About two miles up a 
side valley is the well Hadhra, which, Burckhardt 
suggests, may be Hazeroth. The main direction, 
was now E. N. E., till, at the end of four hours 
and three quarters, the winding defiles issued in 
the fine valley of Wady Rahab. Here there are 
many syale-trees, and the sands terminate. In three 
quarters of an hour more, our Traveller entered 
another valley, slightly descending through a sand- 
stone formation alternating with granite. The bar- 
renness of this district exceeded any thing he had 
yet witnessed, except some parts of the desert of 
El Tyh. i The Nubian valleys might be called 
pleasure-grounds in comparison. Not the smallest 
green leaf could be discovered, and the thorny mimosa, 
which retains its verdure in the tropical deserts of 
Nubia with very little supply of moisture, was here 
entirely withered, and so dry that it caught fire 



ARABIA. 193 

from the lighted ashes which fell from our pipes as we 
passed.' At six hours and a half, he entered Wady 
Samghy, coming from the S., and running N.E. 
At eight hours and a half, he turned eastward 
into a side valley called Boszeyra, where, a quarter of 
an hour further, he. halted for the night. 

The next day's route first crossed a short mountain 
ridge, and then descended the steep bed of a torrent 
called Saada y in an easterly direction, which, in 
an hour and a half, assumed the character of a 
majestic but very narrow pass, between high per- 
pendicular griinstein rocks. In some places, the 
passage is only ten feet across. After proceeding 
for about a mile in this striking defile, our Traveller 
caurfit the first glimpse of the Gulf of Akaba. The 
valley now widens as it descends to the sea, and 
after two hours and a quarter, he alighted on a 
sandy beach, several hundred paces in breadth, near a 
well of brackish but drinkable water, and some 
groves of date-trees: the place is called ElJYoweyba. 
The valley opens directly upon the sea, into which, 
in the rainy season, it empties its torrent. The 
griinstein and granite rocks reach all the way down ; 
but at the very foot of the mountain, a thin layer of 
chalk appears just above the surface. Following 
the coast in a N. N. E. direction, our Traveller halted, 
at the end of three hours and a quarter, at a spring 
of tolerable water and a grove of date-trees, inter- 
mixed with a few tamarisks, close by the sea : the 
place is called Wasta. Beyond this, the route skirted 
a small bay, where the sands bore the impression 
of the tracks of serpents crossing each other in many 
directions ; and Burckhardt was told, that serpents 
are very common in these parts. The fishermen are 
much afraid of them, and extinguish their fires 
before they go to sleep, because the light is known to 

vol. i. 18* 



194 



ARABIA. 



attract them.* At a distance were seen several 
gazelles, which are said to descend at mid-day to the 
sea to bathe. At one hour from Wasta, is another 
well with a grove of palm-trees, but the well was 
completely choked up by the sands. Every tree 
in these plantations has its acknowledged owner 
among some of the Towara tribes ; but not. the 
smallest attention is paid to them till the period of 
the date-harvest, when the owners encamp under 
them with their families for about a week while 
the fruit is gathered. The shrub gharkad was found 
growing here in large quantities. At three hours 
and three quarters, after skirting two more small 
bays, round which the rocks leave but a narrow path, 
our Traveller passed an opening in the mountain 
formed by Wady Om Hash, and, in another half 
hour, Wady Mowaleh. At the end of five hours and 
three quarters, he rested on the south side of the 
chalky promontory called Mou Burko, (i. e. he who 
wears a face-veil, from a white rock resembling the white 
berkoa, or face-veil of the Arab women,) which forms 
the northern point of the bay into which the above 
wadys, and several similar torrents, issue. On the 
opposite side of the gulf, which is here, on a rough 
measurement, about twelve miles across, the moun- 
tains appeared to come down to the sea. 

The next day, they were an hour in doubling Mou 
Burko ; at two hours they passed a few date-trees 
and a well of bad water at Wady Zoara, where the 
maritime plain is nearly two miles in breadth ; then, 
skirting another bay, reached, at three hours and a 
half, its northern promontory, called Ras Om Haye, 
— a name derived from the great quantity of serpents 
found there, which are said to be venomous. l The 
whole coast of the JElanitic Gulf,' Burckhardt states, 
' from Ras Mou Mohammed to Akaba, consists of a 

* See Deut. viii, 15. 



ARABIA, 195 

succession of bays, separated from each other by such 
headlands. The Ras Om Haye forms the western 
•extremity of the mountain El Tyh, whose straight 
and regular ridge runs quite across the peninsula, and 
is easily distinguished from the surrounding moun- 
tains.' On the opposite side of the gulf, the moun- 
tains here recede, and leave at their feet a sloping 
plain : they are steep, and rise into peaks. No 
Arabs live on the western coast, owing to the scanty 
.pasturage. During the summer months only, it is 
visited by fishermen and others who come to collect 
the herb doeyny, from which the soda ashes are 
obtained, or to cut wood and burn it into charcoal. 
The Bedoweens prefer the upper road, and this route 
is seldom taken, therefore, except by stragglers. The 
shore continues to run N. E. by N. To the north of 
Om Haye is another bay, beyond which a bank of sand, 
several miles in breadth, runs out into the sea to 
a considerable distance ; it is formed by the torrent 
of Wady Mokabelat, which, in the rainy season, 
spreads over a wide extent of ground, partly rocky 
and partly sandy, producing good pasturage. The 
view up this inlet is described as very singular. Its 
mouth is nearly two miles wide, and it narrows gra- 
dually upwards with perfect regularity, so that the 
eye can trace it for five or six miles, till it presents 
the appearance of only a perpendicular black line. 
The mountains northward of Om Haye decline con- 
siderably in height ; but, at six hours and a half] 
after passing the promontory of Djebel Sherafe, they 
form high cliffs, which obstruct the road along the 
shore ; and for two hours, Burckhardt, having turned 
inland, ascended and descended through several wind- 
ing valleys. That which he first entered from the 
coast, called Wady Mezeiryk, affords excellent pas- 
turage, and abounds with acacias and sweet-scented 
herbs ; and here, for the first time since settino- out 
from the convent, he discovered the traces of man in 



196 ARABIA. 

some rude drawings of camels and mountain-goats, but 
without any inscriptions, on a sandstone rock. These 
were the only drawings which he met with in the 
mountains to the eastward of the convent. For a.n 
hour after returning to the coast, the route followed 
a range of black basaltic cliffs, into which the sea has 
worked several creeks or lagoons. At ten hours and 
a quarter from Mou Burko, the Travellers rested 
under a palm-tree near a deep, brackish well, in a 
plain forming the extremity of Wachj Taba. 

This was the extent of Burckhardt's journey in 
this direction. They had passed, at Wady Mokabelat, 
the limits of the Towara Arabs, and had entered the 
territory of the Heywat tribe, who have a bad charac- 
ter; the guide, therefore, durst advance no further. 
Akaba was not above five or six hours distant. ' Be- 
fore sunset,' says our Traveller, i I could dis- 
tinguish a black line in the plain, where my sharp- 
sighted guides clearly saw the date-trees surrounding 
the castle, which bore N. E. by E. Before us was 
a promontory called Has Koreye ; and behind this, as 
I was told, there is another, beyond which begins 
the plain of Akaba. The castle is situated at an 
hour and a half, or two hours, from the western chain, 
down which the hadji route leads, and about the 
same distance from the eastern chain, the lower 
continuation of Tor Hesma. The descent of the 
western mountain is very steep, and has probably 
given to the place its name of Akaba, which in Arabic 
means a cliff or a steep declivity : it is probably the 
Akabet Aila of the Arabian geographers. Makrizi 
says, that the village Besak stands upon its summit. 
In Num. xxxiv, 4, _the ascent of Akrabbim is men- 
tioned, which appears to correspond very accurately 
to this ascent of the western mountain from the plain 
of Akaba. Into this plain, which surrounds the 
castle on every side except the sea, issues the Wady 
el Jlraba, the broad, sandy valley which leads towards 



ARABIA, 197 

the Red Sea. At about two hours to the south of 
the castle, the eastern range of mountains approaches 
the sea. The plain of Akaba, which is from three to 
four hours in length from west to east, and, I believe, 
not much less in breadth northward, is very fertile in 
pasturage. To the distance of about one hour from 
the sea, it is strongly impregnated with salt, but, fur- 
ther north, sands prevail. The castle itself stands at 
a few hundred paces from the sea, and is surrounded 
with large groves of date-trees. It is a square build- 
ing with strong walls, erected, as it now stands, by 
Sultan El Ghoury, of Egypt, in the sixteenth century. 
In its interior are many Arab huts. A market is 
held there, which is frequented by Hedjaz and Syrian 
Arabs, and small caravans arrive sometimes from 
Khalyl (Hebron). The castle has tolerably good 
water in deep wells. The Pasha of Egypt keeps here 
a garrison of about thirty soldiers, to guard the pro- 
visions deposited for the support of the Hadji, and for 
the use of the cavalry on their passage by this route 
to join the army in the Hedjaz. Cut off from Cairo ? 
the soldiers of the garrison often turn rebellious. 
Three years ago (from 1816), an aga made himself 
independent, and whenever a corps of troops passed, 
he shut the gates of the castle, and prepared to defend 
it. He had married a daughter of the chief of the 
Omran, and thus secured the assistance of that tribe. 
Being at last attacked by some troops sent against 
him from Cairo, he fled to his wife's tribe, and escaped 
into Syria. 

It appears that the Gulf extends very little further 
east than the castle ; at one hour's distance from 
which, in a southern direction, and on the eastern 
shore of the Gulf, is a smaller and half-ruined castle, 
called Kaszer el Bedawy : it is inhabited by Be- 
doweens. At about three quarters of an hour from 
this place, and the same distance from Akaba, Burck- 
hardt was informed by some \ French Mamelouks* 



198 ARABIA. 

whom he met at Cairo, that there are ruins in the 
sea, consisting of walls, houses, and columns, which 
are visible only at low water. If this be the case, the 
sea would appear to have gained in this direction, 
while it has been receding at Suez. These ruins, it 
is said, cannot easily be approached, on account of the 
shallows. He was informed too by his Arab guides, 
that, opposite the promontory of Ras Koreye, there 
is a small island, on which are extensive ruins, the 
works of infidels, built of stone: they are called El 
Deir (the convent), — a name commonly applied by the 
Arabs to any ruined building in which they suppose 
that the priests of the infidels once resided. 

To the north of Akaba, in the mountain leading 
up to Tor Hesma, is a valley called Wady lthem, 
through which a road leads eastward towards Nedjed. 
This valley, Burckhardt was told, is closed in one 
part by an ancient wall, constructed, according to the 
tradition of the Arabs, by a king Hadeid, to prevent 
the Beni Helal of Nedjed from making incursions into 
the plain. The whole of the tract of country about 
Akaba and to the W. N. W. of it, is particularly 
deserving of investigation, as likely to throw light on 
the Jewish history.* The ridge of mountains which, 
under the modern names of Djtbel Shera and Djebel 
Hesma, extends from the southern extremity of the 
Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba, rising abruptly from 
the valleys El Glior and El Araha, which are a pro- 
longation of the valley of the Jordan, — may be pro- 
nounced, with little hesitation, to be the Mount Seir 
of Edom, which the Israelites are stated to have com- 
passed many days before they again turned north- 
ward. | l The existence of the valley El Jlraba, the 

* M. Seetzen travelled from Hebron to Akaba, across tbe 
desert El Tyh, in 1806 ; but no detailed account of this route 
has been given to the public. 

t Deut. ii 5 1. 



ARABIA. 199 

Kadesh Barnea, perhaps, of the Scriptures, appears,' 
says Burckhardt, ' to have been unknown both to 
ancient and modern geographers, although it forms a 
prominent feature in the topography of Syria and 
Arabia Petrsea. It deserves to be thoroughly inves- 
tigated; and travellers might proceed along it in 
winter time, accompanied by two or three Bedouin 
guides of the tribes of Howeytat and Terabein, who 
could be procured at Hebron. Akaba, or Eziongeber, 
might be reached in eight days by the same road by 
which the communication was anciently kept up be- 
tween Jerusalem and her dependencies on the Red 
Sea; for this is both the nearest and the most com- 
modious route, and it was by this valley that the 
treasures of Ophir were probably transported to the 
warehouses of Solomon.' 

There are two Akabas; Akaba Esshamie, or the 
Syrian Akaba, and Maba el Masri, the Egyptian 
Akaba. There is a day's distance between them. 
The latter is the Akaba above referred to. The other 
lies in the great hadji route from Damascus to Mekka, 
and, like the Egyptian Akaba, appears to take its 
name from a steep acclivity. Here would seem to be 
a formidable pass. ' From the foot of the castle 
walls, the Hadji descends a deep chasm, and it takes 
half an hour to reach the plain below. The pilgrims 
fear that passage, and repeat this prayer before they 
descend: ' May the Almighty God be merciful to 
them who descend into the belly of the dragon.' The 
mountain sinks gradually, and is lost at a great dis- 
tance in the plain, which is very sandy.'* The Akaba 
el Masri is the Aila of the Arabian geographers, 
which is thus described by Ibn Haukal: 'Aila was 
formerly a small town, with some fruitful lands about 
it. It is the city of those Jews who were turned into 

* Burckhardt, p. 658. 



200 ARABIA. 

hogs and monkeys.* It stands upon the coast of the 
Red Sea, pretty near the road of the Egyptian pil 
grims who go to Mekka. It is now nothing- but a 
tower, the residence of a governor, who depends upon 
him of Grand Cairo. There are now no longer any 
sown fields there. There was formerly a fort built 
in the sea, "J" but it is all gone to ruin; and the com- 
mander lives in the tower that we were just speaking 
of, which stands by the water side.' J Makrizi, the 
Egyptian historian, thus speaks of Aila: i It is from 
hence that the Hedjaz begins. In former times, it 
was the frontier place of the Greeks. At one mile 
from it is a triumphal arch of the Caesars. In the time 
of the Islam, it was a fine town, inhabited by the Beni 
Omeya. Ibn Ahmed Ibn Touloun (a sultan of Egypt) 
made a road over the Akaba or steep mountain before 
Aila. There were many mosques at Aila, and many 
Jews lived there. It was taken by the Franks during 
the Crusades, but, in (A. H. 566, Salaheddyn trans- 
ported ships upon camels from Cairo to this place, and 
recovered it from them. JN"ear Aila, was formerly 
situated a large and handsome town called Aszyoun.' 
— Eziongeber § 

Foiled in his hope of visiting Akaba, Burckhardt 
resolved to follow the shore of the gulf southward, 
and retraced his footsteps to Noweyba. On the 10th 
of May, he rested at two hours and three quarters 

* The tradition alluded to is twice mentioned in the Koran, 
chap, ii, and vii. The circumstance is fabled to have occurred 
in the days of King David, as a punishment of some fishermen 
of Elath for catching fish on the sabbath. 

t This is perhaps the ' ruins in the sea,' referred to by the 
' French Mamelouks.' 

% Cited in Calmet's Diet. art. Eloth. 

§ Burckhardt, p. 511. 'After the decease of Alexander, 
and the wars consequent on his death, vElana was subject to 
the kings of Egypt; afterwards to those of Syria; then to the 
Romans, who, in the days of Jerome, stationed here the tenth 
legion. In the acts of the Council ofChalcedon, A. D. 451, 
there is mention of Eeryllus, Bishop of Aila.' — Calmet's 
Dictionary. 



ARABIA. 201 

S.W. of that point, in a valley called Wady Djercimele, 
Red coral, he says, is very common on this part of 
the coast. In the Gulf of Suez, the white is chiefly to 
be seen. In the evening, Burckhardt ' saw a great 
number of shell-fish leave the water, and crawl to 
one hundred or two hundred paces inland, where they 
passed the night, and at sun-rise returned to the sea.' 
The next day, he passed, at four hours the granite 
promontory of Djebel Mou Ma; at eight hours, 
Ras Methna, where granite and porphyry are seen 
crossing each other in irregular layers; and rested, 
three quarters of an hour further, in Wady Methna. 
On the eastern shore opposite this place, is a valley 
called Mekna, inhabited by the tribe of Omran, who 
cross the gulf in small boats, bringing over sheep and 
goats for sale, of which they have large flocks. The 
mountains behind Mekna recede from the sea, and, 
further to the south, take a more eastward direction, 
leaving a chain of hills between them and the shore, 
rising immediately from the coast. In an hour and a 
half S. S.W. of Wady Methna, our Traveller reached 
a place called Bahab ('probably the Dizahab men- 
tioned Deut. i, 1.'), where an extensive cluster of 
date-trees covers a tongue of land running out about 
two miles beyond the line of shore. ' There are some 
low hummocks covered with sand close to the shore of 
the low promontory, probably occasioned by the ruins 
of buildings. The plantations are here enclosed by low 
walls, within many of which are wells of indifferent 
water; but, in one of them, about twenty-five feet 
deep, and fifty yards from the sea, we found the best 
water I had met with on any part of the coast in the 
immediate vicinity of the sea. About two miles to 
the south of the date-groves, are a number of shallow 
ponds, into which the sea flows at high tide. Here 
the salt is made, which supplies all the peninsula, as 
well as the fishermen for curing the fish. The open- 
ings of the ponds being closed with sand, the water is 
vor. i. 19 



202 ARABIA. 

left to evaporate, when a thick crust of salt is left. 
Dahab is a favourite resort of the fishermen, who 
catch the fish boury here in large quantities. In the 
midst of the small peninsula are about a dozen heaps 
of stones irregularly piled together, about five feet 
high, called Kobour el Noszara (the tombs of the 
Christians); and in crossing the tongue of land, 
Burckhardt observed the remains, apparently, of a 
causeway, beginning at the mountain and running 
out towards the point. To the S. of Dahab, the road 
along the shore is shut up by the cliffs which form 
the promontory of El Shedjeir. Our Traveller, there- 
fore, now turned up the broad, sandy valley of Wady 
Sal, which empties itself into the sea. In the rocky 
sides of this valley, he observed about a dozen small 
grottoes, which he thinks must have been originally 
formed by man, but time had given them the appear- 
ance of natural cavities. His direction was now at 
first S.W. Leaving Wady Sal, he continued to 
ascend slightly through the windings of two broad, 
barren, sandy valleys, Wady Beney and Wady Ghayb, 
till, at the extremity of the latter, he reached in four 
hours the well of Moayen el Kelab* On the top of 
a neighbouring part of the granite cliff*, is a similar 
pool, with reeds growing in it: the water is excellent: 
and near it is a spacious cavern in a l beautiful gra- 
nite rock,' affording a delicious shade to the traveller. 
The interior is covered on all sides with rude figures 
of mountain-goats, drawn with charcoal, by the shep- 
herd boys and girls of the Towaras. At an hour and 
a half from the Moayen el Kelab, our Traveller rested 
near the head of a narrow, steep, and rocky valley, 
called Wady Molahdje. Its direction is S. by W. 

Four hours' continual descent through the last- 
mentioned valley, brought our Traveller the next day 
into Wady Orta, which descends towards the sea. In 

* Perhaps Moye el Kelb, water of the dog. 



ARABIA. 



203 



two hours further, he turned to the right out of this 
valley, and entered a large plain called Mofassel el 
Korfa, bounded by Bjebel Tarfa; a high chain extend- 
ing from Sherm towards the centre of the peninsula. 
The plain is crossed by many torrents coming from 
the Tarfa, which collect and flow into the sea near 
WadyJYakb. After proceeding S. S. W. over the plain 
for three hours, the route approached the Tarfa, be- 
tween which and the road are low hills called Hodey- 
bat el Noszara, i. e. the hump-backs of the Christians. 
Three hours further, Burckhardt halted in a valley, 
formed by the lowest range of the Tarfa and an in- 
sulated chain of low hills, called Roweysat JYimr, the 
little heads of the tiger. Descending among these 
hills, he reached in two hours, the next day, the har- 
bour of Sherm. 

This is the only harbour on the western coast of 
the Gulf of Akaba which affords safe anchorage for 
large ships. There are two deep bays, separated by 
high land, in both of which ships may lie in perfect 
safety. On the shore of the more southern bay, 
stands the tomb of a sheikh, held in high veneration 
both by the Bedoweens and by mariners, who some- 
times light a few lamps which are. suspended from the 
roof; — whether it may serve as a beacon, does not 
appear. On the shore of the northern bay are several 
deep, copious, but brackish wells. Sherm is between 
four and five hours from Ras Jlbou Mohammed* the 
extreme point of the peninsula, which bears from it 
S. W. by S. Bedoweens are always found at Sherm, 
waiting with their camels to transport travellers who 
come by sea from the Hedjaz, and proceed by land 
to Tor and Suez. A short distance beyond Sherm, 
Burckhardt saw, ' for the first and only time in this 
peninsula, volcanic rocks. For a distance of about 
two miles, the hills presented perpendicular cliffs 

* Ras Mohammed is in lat. 27° 44' N. — Valentia, 



204 ARABIA. 

formed in high circles, none of them being more than 
from sixty to eighty feet in height: in other places, 
there was an appearance of volcanic craters. The 
rock is black, with sometimes a slight red appearance, 
full of cavities, and of a rough surface. The cliffs 
were covered with deep layers of sand, and the val- 
leys at their feet were also overspread with it. Low 
sand-hills intervene between the volcanic rocks and 
the ^ea ; and above them, towards the higher moun- 
tains, no traces of lava are found. It is possible, 
Burckhardt suggests, that other rocks of the same 
kind may occur towards Has Abou Mohammed. If 
these be really volcanic rocks, as Burckhardt imag- 
ines, the circumstance is highly important, and de- 
serves investigation. 

Our Traveller now turned back towards the con- 
vent, in a direction N. E. by N., and after traversing 
a wide plain which extends as far as Nabk, rested, at 
six hours and a half from Sherm, in front of the unin- 
habited island of Tyran, lying about four miles off 
the shore in lat. 27° 43' N., long. 34° 27' 50" E.f 
Half its length is a narrow promontory of sand, and 
its main part to the south consists of a barren moun- 
tain. There is no .sweet water on the island. Lord 
Valencia describes it as rising to a point in the centre, 
and as having a small island at each end, which at a 
little distance appear as if attached to it. Bedoweens 
of Heteym sometimes come here from the eastern 
coast, and remain for several weeks, to fish for pearls. 
The quantity obtained is very small, but they pick 
up a good deal of mother-of-pearl. At Wady Nabk, 
two hours further N. by E., the plain contracts, and 
the western chain begins to approach the shore. Here 
are large date-plantations and salt-pits, as at Dahab. 
Next to that place and Noweyba, Nabk is the prin- 
cipal station on the coast; but, except during the 

* Valentia. 



ARABIA. 20^ 



date-harvest, it is inhabited only by fishermen, --the 
poorest of their tribe, who throw their nets from 
shore; for there is not a single boat or raft to be 
found on the whole of this coast. The Bedoweens of 
the eastern coast, however, have a few boats. Burck- 
hardt now turned up Wady JYabk; at three hours 
and a half, passed the Mofassel el Korfa; at four 
hours and a quarter, crossed Wady el Orta; and in 
another hour, halted in Wady Rahab. The next 
day, he entered, in four hours and a half, Wady Kyd, 
one of the most noted date-valleys of the Sinai Arabs; 
and, pursuing its windings, came, in another hour, 
to a small rivulet, two feet across and six inches m 
depth, which is lost immediately below, in the sands 
of the wady. ' It drips down a granite rock which 
blocks up the valley, there only twenty paces in 
breadth, and forms, at the foot of the rock, a small 
pond, overshadowed by trees, with fine verdure on its 
banks. The rocks which overhang it on both sides, 
almost meet, and give to the whole the appearance of 
a grotto, most delightful to the traveller after passing 
through these dreary valleys. It is, in fact,' adds 
Burckhardt, 'the most romantic spot I have seen 
in these mountains.' The source of the rivulet is 
half an hour higher up the valley, the deep verdure 
of which forms a striking contrast with the glaring 
rocks, showing that wherever water passes in these 
districts, vegetation invariably accompanies it. Be- 
yond the spot where the rivulet oozes out of the 
ground, vegetation ceases, and the valley widens. 
Notwithstanding its verdure, however, Wady Kyd is 
an uncomfortable halting-place, on account of the 
great number of gnats and ticks with which it is 
infested. The route now descended in a W. N. W. 
direction, through winding denies, passed over Djebel 
Mordam, and, beyond that mountain, another called 
Mohala, on the northern declivity of which Burck- 
hardt halted, after a day's march of twelve hours and 
vol. i. 19* 



206 



ARABIA. 



a quarter. The next day, he proceeded only three 
hours and a quarter, and rested at an Arab encamp- 
ment in the plain called Hazfet el Ras. The day 
following, at the end of three hours and a half, he 
reached the great convent. 

It is a little remarkable, that Dr Shaw, in his map 
of the journeyingsofthe Israelites, (copied, probably, 
from older maps,) places Mount Sinai to the south- 
east of Elim, near the extremity of the peninsula, 
although he evidently intends Djebel Mourn under 
that name. And Ibn Haukal describes the iElanitic 
Gulf as < bending southward as far as M Tour, which 
is Mount Sinai, that by a very high cape, jutting out 
into the sea, divides it into two arms (or tongues)... 
The place where it parts the sea, is Jll Tour, i. e. 
Mount Sinai, the longitude of which is almost the 
same as that of Ailah.'* This coincidence, together 
with the ' volcanic rocks' of Sherm mentioned by 
Burckhardt, would almost tempt one to indulge the 
imagination, that Mount Sinai might after all be 
found in this direction, and that the bold promontory 
of Ras Mohammed might prove the sea-ward front of 
the mount of God, or at least a mountain of the same 
range.f It is evident, however, that the Arabian 
geographer speaks of the whole peninsula under the 

* Calmet's Diet., art. Eloth. 

t ' We passed Moilah, and ran up into the Gulf of Akaba, 
We sailed, for many hours, over or among large and beauti- 
fully green shoals, and cast our anchor on the shore of Midian. 
It is a silent, unpeopled shore: the " very great company " 
of early ages has with them passed away. Still, however, 
from the opposite side of the gulf, the rugged mountains of 
Arabia the Stony frown distinctly upon you. Sinai is one of 
this rude and lofty chain. I know not if its awful summit 
was seen by us; but, where we lay, the fisher in his bark, 
< when the God of Israel, even our God, spake to his cho- 
sen people," must have heard the thunder, and seen the 
lightning cloud.' — Scenes and Impressions in JEgwt, Src, 
8vo, p. 63. * yi * 



ARABIA. 207 

name of M Tour, in the same manner as it is called by 
Burckhardt and others, the peninsula of Sinai. ' M 
Tour J it is added, ' is joined to the continent on 
the north side, but it is encompassed by the sea on 
the other sides.' No stress, therefore, can, we fear, 
be laid on the description above cited, with regard to 
the locality in question; but some future traveller 
may, perhaps, think it worth while to pursue the 
shadowy but magnificent idea, and explore the imme- 
diate vicinity of the southern cape which divides the 
gulfs of Suez and Akaba. Leaving this interesting 
tract, which has too long detained us, we must now 
descend the Red Sea, and prepare to visit the coast 
of Hedjaz. 

VOYAGE DOWN THE RED SEA TO DJIDDA. 

In 1807, M. Badhia, a Spaniard who travelled 
under the name of Ali Bey, and was every where re- 
ceived as a complete Mussulman, succeeded in pene- 
trating the sacred territory, and in exploring the 
mysteries of the Kaaba. He is the only European 
who is known to have reached Mekka since Joseph 
Pitts, who was taken captive by the Algerines to- 
wards the close of the seventeenth century, and who, 
through the cruelties practised upon him, turned 
Mohammedan, and accompanied his master on the 
pilgrimage to the sacred city. Of his ingenuous and 
interesting narrative, we shall have occasion to avail 
ourselves in following the route of the former tra- 
veller. 

On the 23d of Dec. 1806, Ali Bey embarked at 
Suez in a dao or dotv y to cross the Red Sea to Djidda. 
These dows are vessels of a singular construction, 
1 their height being equal to a third of their length, 
which is increased, at the upper part, by a long pro- 
jection at the head and stern, in the manner of the 
ancient Trojan galleys.' The ropes are made of the 



208 



ARABIA. 



bark of palm-trees; the sail, of extremely coarse cot- 
ton. They carry three sails of various sizes, and two 
little smack-sails, but never make use of more than 
one at a time. The crew consisted of fifteen sailors, 
' as thin and black as apes.'* The navigation of 
the Red Sea, this Traveller says, ' is dreadful.' 
They sailed almost continually between banks and 
rocks, above and under water, so that four or five 
men were required to keep watch constantly on the 
prow, to give notice to the steersman of the shoals. 
Should they commit an error, or discover the 
shoal too late, or should the steersman misunder- 
stand the cry, (which sometimes happens,) or not 
keep far enough off, or, in keeping too far, (for he 
cannot see them,) run the ship on a neighbouring 
bank, or should the wind and current be too strong to 
admit of his changing his direction in time, — the ship 
would be dashed in pieces. To guard against these 
dangers, these dows have a false keel, which lessens 
the shock a little, and, if the weather is not rough, 
saves the vessel. The fact is, that, not daring to 
venture into the open sea, the native pilots coast 
round the shores at the risk of being dashed in pieces 
upon jutting rocks, or stranded upon coral reefs. In 
smaller vessels, however, better adapted to the navi- 
gation, a voyage in the Red Sea is not without its 
attractions. A recent Traveller, who embarked at 
Mocha for Kosseir, in a large kind of boat called a 
khanjarf thus describes the voyage. 'We were 

* The vessel in which Niebuhr crossed the sea, was < large 
enough to have carried at least forty guns, 1 and, ' besides her 
Own freight, towed after her three large shallops and one small; 
the three larger filled with passengers, horses, sheep, and even 
women of pleasure.' 

+ ' These boats, though very large, are without any deck, 
save a little on the bows and that of the front awning, under 
which is the cabin, open to the front, without ports or win- 
dows, but with a neat open-work at the side, superior to either 
for light, air, and cheerfulness.' 



ARABIA. 



209 



thirteen days running to Djidda. The navigation i* 
intricate, the shoals of coral numerous, but the waters 
smooth and clear as pilot could desire. It was beau- 
tiful to look down into this brightly transparent sea, 
and mark the coral, here in large masses of honey- 
combed rock, there in light branches of a pale-red 
hue, and the beds of green sea-weed, and the golden 
sand, and the shells, and the fish sporting round your 
vessel, and making colours of a beauty to your eye, 
which is not their own. Twice or thrice we ran on 
after dark for an hour or two; and though we were 
all familiar with the " sparkling of the sea round the 
boat of night," never have I seen it, in other waters, 
so superlatively splendid. A rope dipped in it, and 
drawn forth, came up as a string of gems, but with a 
life, and light, and motion, the diamond does not 
know.'* This luminous appearance, however, is 

* Scenes and Impressions, p. 35. Mr Brace's assertion has 
been noticed at p. 112, that he never saw a weed of any sort 
in the Yam Suf. The writer above cited is not the only 
one whose testimony supplies a direct contradiction of that 
statement. Lord Valentia affirms, that the Red Sea abounds 
with sea-weed more than any other; and Mr Dawson Turner, 
in his beautiful work on the Fuci, has given drawings of many 
of the specimens brought home by his lordship. Equally in- 
correct is the assertion of Sir F. Henniker, that the coral of the 
Red Sea is all white. With regard to the luminous appear- 
ance of the waters, Lord Valentia was astonished, when in 
twenty-two fathom, off the coast of Abyssinia, with the 
white appearance of breakers. 'The captain immediately 
let go the anchor. The pilots declared that it was only fash, 
and so it proved; for, soon afterwards, they approached and 
passed under the vessel. It is singular, that the same circum- 
stance should have been observed by D. Juan de Castro, and 
should have had the same effect, of inducing him to let go his 
anchor. He does not account for it, because it happened in 
the night; but he mentions that it cast flames like fire; which 
confirms the conjecture, that the brilliant appearance of the 
sea is owing to fish-spawn and animalcule.' — Valentia $ 
Travels, (8vo) vol. ii, p. 246; vol. iii, p. 334. 



210 



ARABIA. 



probably confined to the spawning period, for all the 
travellers who mention it, visited the Red Sea 
between the latter end of December and the end of 
February. 

It is customary for the vessels to touch both at Tor 
and at Yambo (written Jenboa by Ali Bey). At the 
latter, which is the port of Medinah, those pilgrims 
land who intend to take that city in their way to 
Mekka, and it is also a point of disembarkation for 
Moggrebin pilgrims. It is a walled town, but very 
small, and of most wretched aspect : it has a safe 
harbour.* The governor's residence (for the Turks 
have a small garrison here) is washed by the sea. 
The people are poor and ill-clothed. Immediately 
outside the Medinah gate, the traveller finds himself 
in the sandy and cheerless desert. A small, poor, 
rude gateway of stone, f insignificant as that which 
would open on the court-yard of a rustic auberge 
in many parts of France,' is dignified with the name 
of 'the gate of Egypt.' Wear it is a 'crowded 
burial-ground, and, not far off, a windmill, said to 
have been erected by a Nazarene who died at Yambo, 
and whose grave is < somewhere in the sand.'' This 
stands, however, as the Christian's monument : could 
tnere have been a more striking one ? 

On the 12th of January, Ali Bey arrived at < Ara- 
bok, which is the northern extremity of the belled el 
haram, or holy land. The ship ran upon the sand 
purposely to enable the pilgrims to perform the first 
duty of their pilgrimage, which is called Jaharmo. 
It consists in throwing themselves into the sea ; in 
bathing, and making a general ablution with the 
water and sand ; in saying a prayer while naked ; in 
covering the body from the waist to the knees with a 
cloth without a seam, which they call Hiram; and in 
taking some steps in the direction of Mekka, while ' 

* Lat. 24° T 6" N.; W. 37' 32' 30" E. —Ali Bet. 



ARABIA. 211 

uttering a prescribed invocation. They afterwards 
form some little heaps of sand with their hands, em- 
bark dressed as above mentioned, and repeat the 
same prayer during the remainder of their voyage.' 
Arabok (Rabbock, Rabogh) is a permanent station of 
Bedoweens, on the southern side of Cape Wardan. 
The ihram, or hirrawem, is the common dress of the 
Arabs of Hedjaz; and Mohammed's design was, to 
make all the pilgrims appear with due humility. The 
Turks, who are accustomed to warm clothing and 
furred cloaks, find it extremely uncomfortable to 
make the exchange, and, on the plea of indisposi- 
tion, often resume, after performing these rites, their 
ordinary dress. Besides the body-cloth, the only gar- 
ment which the hadjis are properly allowed to wear, 
is another large white wrapper thrown over the 
shoulders as a scarf ; and they put on a pair of gim- 
gameea, or sandals, which cover only the toes. l In 
this manner,' says Pitts, 'like humble penitents, 
they go from Rabbock, till they come to Mekka, to 
approach the temple; many times enduring the scorch- 
ing heat of the sun till their very skin is burned off 
their backs and arms, and their heads swollen to a 
very great degree. Yet, when any man's health is, 
by such austerities, like to be impaired, they may 
lawfully put on their clothes, on condition still, that, 
when they come to Mekka, they sacrifice a sheep, and 
give it to the poor. During the time of their wear- 
ing this mortifying habit, which is about the space of 
seven days, it is held unlawful for them so much as to 
cut their nails, or to kill a louse or a flea though 
sucking their blood; but yet, if they are so trouble- 
some that they cannot well endure it any longer, it is 
lawful for them to remove them from one place of the 
body to another !' Moreover, from this moment, 
Ali Bey states, ' they must not shave their heads 
until they have made the seven turns round the house 
of God, kissed the black stone, drank of the water of 



212 ARABIA. 

the sacred well of Zemzem, and made the seven 
journeys between the sacred hills of Saffa and 

TVTpi*nnFi 

On the 13th, our Hadji anchored in the harbour of 
Diidda, situated, according to his observations, in 
lat. 21° 33' 14" N., long. 39° 6' E. of Greenwich. He 
describes it as a pretty town: the streets are regular ; 
the houses are two and three stories high, and some 
are spacious and handsome. There are rive mosques, 
but they are all poor and ugly. The town is sur- 
rounded with a good wall, with irregular towers ; and 
at ten paces distance outside, there is a ditch, about 
ten feet broad and twelve deep; but it is entirely use- 
less, and, although of late construction, will not last 
Ions, as the sides are cut perpendicularly, without 
any lining. It is filled with dirt at the city gate, 
which serves as a passage instead of a drawbridge. 
< The houses in Djidda,' Lord Valentia says, < are 
far superior to those of Mocha. They are built of 
large blocks of very fine madrapore. The doorways 
are handsomely arched and covered with fretwork 
ornaments, carved in the stone: the zig-zag, so pre- 
valent in the Saxon arch, is the most common. I he 
windows are numerous and large. I could not but be 
struck with the resemblance which exists between 
these arches and those in our cathedrals. Some were 
pointed, like the Gothic, including three semicircular 
windows. Others, particularly those over the doors, 
were flat like the Saxon, and retired one withm 
another, till the inner one was sufficiently small to 
receive the door, which is never large. Djidda is a new 
town; but these excellent houses are probably formed 
after the model of the more ancient habitations of 
Mekka. If so, the architecture which we call Gothic, 
existed in Arabia long before it was known in Europe. 
The streets are very narrow, which is an advantage 
in a tropical country, as they are consequently shaded 
during most part of the day. The palace is very 



ARABIA. 213 

pleasantly situated on the water's edge. The custom- 
house faces the sea, and is a handsome, lofty building. 
The ground rises from the sea, and gives the town a 
much better appearance than Mocha, though it is not 
so long. The sea also washes its walls at both ends, 
and is close to the houses in the middle : this adds 
greatly to the effect. The bazar was well filled, 
though it was Ramadan, with plenty of wheat, pulse, 
dates, figs, raisins, and bread ; the latter in small 
cakes, and very good.' Ali Bey says, the public mar- 
kets are well supplied, but the prices are high. A 
fowl costs a Spanish piaster. The vegetables are 
brought from a distance, for there are no gardens at 
Djidda, there being neither river nor spring in the 
neighbourhood. The inhabitants drink rain water, 
which is collected in reservoirs among the hills, and 
brought by Arabs on the backs of camels. It is said 
to be excellent. Many of the poorer people earn a 
scanty livelihood by fishing. The population is stated 
by the last-mentioned Traveller at 5,000 souls. 
' There is a great deal of luxury,' he adds, ' in the 
costume and apartments of the rich ; but, among the 
lower orders, there are many very poor, some almost 
naked and in the greatest misery. The garrison 
is composed of two hundred Turkish and Arab sol- 
diers. But we must not imagine that they mount 
guard, or execute the least military duty. Their busi- 
ness is confined to passing both night and day in the 
coffee-house, drinking, smoking, and playing at 
chess. There are no Europeans; but there are a few 
Christians, Copts, confined to a house, or barrack^ 
contiguous to the landing-place. The most import- 
ant person in the town is the principal merchant, Sidi 
Alarbi Djilauni: he is a man of talent, and very much 
attached to the English. I saw a prodigious number 
of dogs in the streets, which are without masters, as in 
all the Mussulman towns. They appear to be regularly 
vol. i. 20 



214 



ARABLA. 



organised, or divided into tribes or families ; for, 
when one of them has the misfortune or the bold- 
ness to leave his own quarter, they set up a ter- 
rible noise, and the intruder never escapes without 
receiving serious wounds. The cats, which resem- 
ble those of Europe, are nearly equal in number 
to the dogs. There are few flies, and no gnats or 

other insects.' . , 

< The harbour,' Lord Valentia says, is formed 
bv innumerable reefs of madrapore, which extend to 
about four miles from the shore, leaving many 
narrow channels between, in which there is a good 
bottom at from six to twelve fathom, and where the 
sea is as smooth as glass, when it blows the heaviest 
ea le The entrance is, of course, difficult, but the 
rocks are visible when the sun is behind the vessel, 
and the native pilots unerringly steer m safety by the 
eye alone. Even large ships can enter ; but for clows 
it is a most excellent harbour, and the number tnat 
even now frequent it, is very great. Sir Home .Fop- 
ham has given an excellent plan of the harbour 1 he 
English formerly carried on a considerable trade with 
Diidda, but it gradually declined in consequence 
of the extortions of the shereef and his servants, 
under the name of presents ; and, for many years 
before the expedition into the Red Sea, not a vessel 
had arrived, except the Surprise, Captain Gilmore, 
which the vizier immediately plundered, but which 
Admiral Blanket as quickly obliged him to restore. 
From that time till the arrival oi the Olive (180b), 
the English flag had not been seen in Djiclda. 

The country round the town is a desert plain. 
The climate is very variable. AH Bey observed the 
hygrometer pass in a very short time from great 
drought to extreme moisture. ' The north wind, 
traversing the deserts, arrives in such a state ot dry- 
ness, that the skin is parched, paper cracks as it 
it were in the mouth of an oven, and the air is always 



ARABIA. 215 

loaded with sand. If the wind changes to the south, 
every thing is an opposite extreme : the air is damp, 
and every thing that you handle feels of a clammy 
wetness. This moisture relaxes the animal fibres, and 
is very disagreeable. The inhabitants, notwithstand- 
ing, assert that it is more salubrious than the aridity 
of the north wind. The greatest heat I observed 
during my stay, was 23° of Reaumur. When the 
south wind blew, I perceived the atmosphere to be 
loaded with a sort of fog.' 

Djidda owes its celebrity and its consequence to its 
being the sea-port nearest to Mekka, from which it is 
distant about forty miles. The holy city, being sur- 
rounded with a barren desert, has invariably depended 
on Africa for its supplies ; and the Grand Seignior has 
availed himself of this circumstance to secure a share 
of the profits derived from the trade. ' He used 
formerly, therefore, regularly to appoint a pasha, who 
lived in the citadel of Djidda with a Turkish guard, 
and divided the receipts of the custom-house with the 
shereef* While the power of the Porte continued 
undiminished, its minister was treated with great 
respect, for any insult would have been punished 
by the powerful force which annually accompanied 
the caravan of pilgrims from Syria; but, when Egypt 
was torn by internal convulsions, when the pashas of 
Asia threw off, in a great degree, the control of the 

* According to Niebuhr, however, the authority of the pasha 
was little more than nominal, the supreme authority being 
shared between the shereef s vizier and the Turkish kiaja, the 
officer entrusted with the supervision of the customs, who was 
changed every year, aid sometimes refused to obey the pasha 
himself. The customs were fixed at iO per cent, but, being 
estimated arbitrarily, were often equal to 12 or 15 per cent. 
The English, however, paid only 8 per cent, which they were 
allowed to discharge in goods, while all others were required 
to produce money. An Englishman had at that time resided 
here several years. 



216 ARABIA. 

Porte; and when the Wahhabee power arose, and 
cut off the communication between Constantinople 
and Mekka, the shereef became disinclined to give 
half his receipts to a person whom he no longer feared, 
but considered as a useless incumbrance. Disputes 
naturally ensued, which at length ended in open hos- 
tilities; and Ghalib (the reigning shereef) actually 
attacked the pasha in the citadel, nearly destroyed it, 
and got rid of him by the more secret means of poison.' 
At the time of Lord Valentia's travels in these parts 
(1805-6), no representative of the Protector of the 
Holy Places (so the Grand Seignior is styled) was to 
be found in Arabia; and the shereef of Mekka was 
shut up by the Wahhabees within his walled towns. 
In 1763, when Niebuhr visited Arabia, Hedjaz had, 
in Moosnud, an active, able, and victorious sovereign, 
and so rigid an administrator of justice, that it was 
said, a camel might go safely from one end of Hedjaz 
to the other. ' During the nineteen years that his 
son has ruled,' remarks Lord Valentia, ' how totally 
has every thing been changed ! The proud Arabs of 
Beni.Koieish, the descendants of the prophet, to 
whom the earth was given, are shut up in four 
wretched towns,' (Mekka, Medinah, and their 
respective sea-ports,) ' whence they behold their 
country devastated without the means of saving it ; 
and instead of receiving that respect which for twelve 
centuries they have claimed throughout Asia, they 
are obliged to submit to the mandates of an Abys- 
sinian slave, who has no real merit except valour, but 
who is recommended to his master by a willingness to 
commit every crime.' 

The soldiers of the vizier at this time in Djidda, 
were about a thousand in number, all richly clothed, 
their matchlocks and jambeas highly ornamented with 
silver. When Lord Valentia landed to pay his 
respects to the vizier, several of his officers were 
in waiting at the landing-place, very handsomely 



ARABIA. 217 

dressed in scarlet English broad-cloth lined with 
yellow satin. A double line of soldiers reached to the 
door of the hall of audience, and the whole of the 
troops made a very respectable appearance. They 
must have undergone a considerable reduction, appa- 
rently, when Ali Bey was at Djidda the following 
year, as he states their number at only two hundred. 
The critical state of the country at that period, has 
already been described in the introductory sketch. # 
In 1823, Djidda had again received a Turkish gover- 
nor, whose portrait is thus strikingly drawn by the 
graphic pen of the Author of ' Scenes and Impres- 
sions in Egypt.' 

' Rustan Aga himself was a fine-looking, haughty, 
martial man, with mustachios, but no beard; he wore 
a robe of scarlet cloth. Hussein Aga, who sat on his 
left, had a good profile, a long grizzled beard, with a 
black ribbon bound over one eye, to conceal its loss. 
He wore a robe of pale blue. The other person, 
Araby Jellauny, was an aged and a very plain man. 
The attendants for the most part wore large dark- 
brown dresses, fashioned into the short Turkish vest 
or jacket, and the large full Turkish trowsers; their 
sashes were crimson, and the heavy ornamented buts 
of their pistols protruded from them; their crooked 
scimitars hung in silken cords before them; they had 
white turbans, large mustachios, but the cheek and 
chin clearly shaven. Their complexions were in 
general very pale, as of men who pass their lives 
in confinement. They stood with their arms folded, 
and their eyes fixed on us. I shall never forget 
them; there were a dozen or more. I saw nothing 
like this after, not even in Eygpt; for Djidda is an 
excellent government, both on account of its port and 
its vicinity to Mekka; and Rustan Aga had a large 
establishment, and was something of a magnifico. Hq 

* Page 102. 
vol. i. 20* 



218 ARABIA. 

has the power of life and death. A word, a sign from 
him, and these men who stand before you in attitude 
so respectful, with an aspect so calm, so pale, would 
smile and slay you. We know that the name of 
Englishman is a tower of strength, — that he may sit 
among these despotic lords, fearless, proud, and cheer^ 
ful. So, indeed, may all Europeans whose countries 
are strong enough to protect their subjects. But we 
have to do with the manners of these people; and we 
know, that not fourteen years have passed since Ali 
Pasha, Whom I have heard laugh, as the assembled 
beys of the mamelukes passed from the hall of 
audience, whither he had invited them, gave the sig^ 
nal for a general massacre of them and their brave 
followers : — such is the Turk. 

* What most gratified me was the sight of the 
Turkish soldiery. There was a large body in garrison 
here,— -a division of that army which had been sent 
from Egypt against the Hedjaz, two or three years 
before. Scattered in groups through the bazar, and 
reclining or squatted on the benches of the coffee- 
houses, these men were every where to be seen; some 
in turbans and vests covered with tarnished embroil 
dery; others only in waistcoats, with the small red cap, 
the red stocking, the bare knee, the white kilt, the loose 
shirt sleeve, which, with many, was tucked up to the 
very shoulder, and showed a nervous, hairy arm: all 
had pistols in their red girdles. Their complexions 
and features were various; but very many among them 
had eyes of the lightest colours, and the hair on their 
upper lips, of a sun-scorched brown, or of a dirty 
yellow. They have a look at once indolent and fero- 
cious, such as the tiger would have basking in the sun; 
and they are not less savage. The Turkish soldier 
would sit, smoke, and sleep for a year or years toge- 
ther: he hates exertion, scorns discipline, but has 
within him a capability of great efforts, and an un- 
daunted spirit. He will rise from his long rest to give 



ARABIA. 219 

the " wild halloo," and rush fearless to the battle. 
Such are the men who shed the blood of the peaceful 
Greek families in the gardens of Scio ; and such are 
the men (let it not be forgotten) who, a short century 
ao-o, encamped under the walls of Vienna.' 

Ali Bey rested a week at Djidda, to recover from 
the effects of fatigue and indisposition. At length, on 
the 21st of January, he set out at three o'clock P.M. 
for Mekka, and at half-past eight arrived at the foot 
of the mountains. He travelled in a sort of sofa, 
roofed with boughs, and placed on the back of a 
camel: he calls it a shevria. In his weak state, he 
found the camel's motion almost insupportable. About 
eight leagues E. of Djidda, they rested at a small 
douar (village or station) in a sandy valley, enclosed 
by mountains of porphyry, where a few conical huts 
have been set up for the accommodation of caravans, 
round a well of brinish water. The place is called 
El Hadda. The huts are about seven feet high, and 
seven or eight in diameter, formed of sticks like a 
cage, and covered with palm-leaves; the whole was 
enclosed with a hedge. There was a little vegetation 
in the neighbourhood, and it was interesting, says 
our Traveller, to see the camels eat. < The driver 
placed a circular mat upon the ground, and on this 
he laid a pile of brambles and herbs cut very small; 
he then permitted the camels to approach, when they 
immediately squatted themselves down upon the ground 
air round at regular distances, and began to eat with a 
sort of politeness and order. They each ate the herbs 
before them by a little at a time, and if either of them 
left his place, his companion appeared gently to reprove 
him, which made the other feel his fault, and return to 
it again. In a word, the camel's table is a faithful 
copy of that of their masters.' At half-past three on 
the following day, our Traveller again set forward by 
a fine, broad, and straight road. As he advanced, he 
began to see several little woods; and after sunset, 



220 ARABIA. 

f passed some volcanic mountains covered with black 
lava. At eleven at night, having climbed over some 
small hills, the route led into a deep and narrow defile, 
in which the road is cut in steps through the different 
windings. This defile would make a strong military 
position. At midnight, our Hadji arrived at the first 
houses of the city ot 

MEKKA. 

Here, several Moggrebins were waiting his arrival, 
with little pitchers filled with water from the well of 
Zemzem, which they presented to him. Others were 
also laying in wait in the hope of securing him as a 
lodger, for the lodgings are the principal speculations 
of the inhabitants; but their disputes were soon cut 
short by the person whom Ali -Bey had charged 
with providing every thing for him during his stay, 
by whom he was conducted to the house prepared for 
him near the temj le. Pilg.ins ougi t to m ter the 
city on foot; but, in consequence of his illness, our 
Hadji remained on his camel till he reached his 
lodging. 

His first duty was to perform a general ablution; 
after which he was conducted in procession towards 
the temple, with all his people, the dill eel, or guide, 
reciting prayers all the way. On arriving at the 
Bab-es-salem (gate of peace or welcome), at the 
northern angle of the temple, the pilgrim takes off his 
sandals; and on his entering the great square in which 
the Kaaba stands, the dilleel suddenly makes a stand, 
and pointing to it with his finger, exclaims, Shouf, 
shouf, el Beit- Allah el Haram! Look, look, the 
house of God, the holy ! \ The crowd that surround- 
ed me,' says Ali Bey ' the portico of columns half- 
hidden from view, the immense size of the temple, 
the Kaaba or house of God, covered with the black 
cloth from top to bottom, and surrounded with a 
circle of lamps or lanterns, the hour, the silence of 



ARABIA. 221 

the night, and this man's solemn tone, — all served to 
form an imposing picture, which will never be effaced 
from my memory.' 

The following are the ceremonies observed on this 
occasion, such as they were performed by Ali Bey 
himself: ' The pilgrims go seven times round the 
Kaaba, beginning at the black stone or the eastern 
angle, and passing the principal front, in which 
is the door; thence turning to the west and south, 
outside of the stones of Ismael. Being arrived at the 
southern angle, they stretch out the right arm; when, 
having touched the angular marble with the hand, 
taking great care that the lower part of their garment 
does not touch the uncovered base, they pass it over 
the face and beard, saying, • In the name of God, 
the greatest God, praises be to God;' and they con- 
tinue to walk towards the north-east, saying, c Oh 
great God ! be with me ! Give me the good things 
of this world, and those of the next!' Being returned 
to the eastern angle, they raise their hands as at the 
beginning of the canonical prayer, and cry, ' In the 
name of God, the greatest God.' They afterwards 
say, with their hands down, i Praises be to God!' 
and kiss the black stone. Thus terminates the first 
tour. The second is like the first, except that the 
prayers are different from the angle of the black stone 
to that of the south; but they are the same from the 
latter to the former, and are repeated with the same 
forms during the seven rounds. At the end of the 
seventh, and after having kissed the black stone, they 
recite in common a short prayer, standing near the 
door of the Kaaba, from whence they go to a sort of 
chapel, called Ma-ham Ibrahim,, or the place of Abra- 
ham, situated between the Kaaba and the arch Bab- 
es-salem, when they recite a common prayer. They 
then go to the well Zemzem, and draw buckets of wa- 
ter, of which they drink as much as they can swallow. 
After this, they leave the temple by the gate of SafFa, 



222 ARABIA. 

from whence they go up a small street facing, which 
forms what is called Djebel Saffa, the hill of Saffa. 
At the end of this street, which is terminated by a 
portico, composed of three arches upon columns, 
ascended by steps, is the sacred place called Saffa. 
When the pilgrims have arrived there, they turn 
their faces towards the gate of the temple, and recite 
a short prayer standing. The procession then directs 
its course through the principal street, and passes a 
part of Djebel Meroua (the hill of Meroua), the pil- 
grims reciting some prayers at the end of the street, 
which is terminated by a great wall. They then 
ascend some steps, and, turning their faces towards 
the temple, the view of which is interrupted by the 
intervening houses, recite a short prayer standing, 
and continue to go from the one hill to the other 
seven times, repeating prayers in a loud voice as they 
proceed, and short ones at the two sacred places, which 
constitute the seven journeys between the two hills. 
These being completed, there are a number of barbers 
in waiting to shave the pilgrims' heads, which they 
do very quickly, at the same time saying pra y trs in a 
loud tone, which the former repeat after them, word 
for word. This operation terminates the first cere- 
monies of the pilgrimage to Mekka. It is generally 
known, that almost all Mussulmans let a tuft of hair 
grow upon the crown of their head. The reformer 
Abd-ul Wahhab declared this to be a sin; and as the 
Wahhabi.es govern the country, every body is obliged 
to shave his head. In consequence of this, my long 
tuft was swept away by the inexorable barber.' 

The Temple of Mekka, known to all true Mussul- 
mans under the name of HI Haram, the holy place, 
is situated nearly in the middle of the ci y, which is 
built in a narrow valley, having a considerable slope 
from north to south. In order to form a level area 
for the great court of the temple, the ground has evi- 
dently been hollowed out, subsequently to the erection 



ARABIA. 



223 



of the Kaaba, which is the only ancient edifice in the 
temple; so that, on entering it in any direction, you 
descend several steps; and the oval surface paved 
with marble that immediately surrounds the Kaaba, 
upon which the pilgrims perform their rounds, is the 
lowest part. The door of the Kaaba, and the floor of 
the interior, are considerably above the pavement of 
the court; but it is easy to perceive, Ali Bey says, 
that they were originally on a level with the streets 
that surround the temple, and that there was then no 
occasion for a staircase to enter it. The great court 
forms a parallelogram of about 536 feet by 356, sur- 
rounded with a double piazza;* the fronts of the 
two longer sides presenting thirty-six, and the two 
shorter sides twenty-four arches, slightly pointed, sup- 
ported by columns of grayish marble, of different pro- 
portions. Each side is composed of two naves, formed 
by a triple row of arches, so that there may be counted 
more than five hundred columns and pilasters. In- 
stead of a column, between every fourth arch, there 
is an octangular pilaster of hewn stone, about three 
feet in diameter. The capitals of the columns which 
front the court are < very fine, although they do not 
belong to either of the five orders of architecture;' 
but ihe capitals of the interior columns are stated to 
be all of either the Corinthian or the Composite: 
some are exquisitely carved. The pedestals are of 
various form and proportion: < some have, by an 
extravagant whim of (he architect, a Corinthian 
capital reversed.' The arches that front the court, 
are all crowned with little conical cupolas: the interior 
ones have low spherical vaults. The four fronts are also 
surmounted with stone ornaments, very much resem- 
bling fleurs-de-lys. All the galleries, as well as the 

* < The form of it,' says Pitts, « is much resembling that of 
the Royal Exchange in London, but, I believe, it is near ten 
times bigger.' 



224 ARABIA. 

paths crossing the area to the Kaaba, are paved with 
hewn stones of quartz rock, of which also the walls 
of the temple are built. Like the mosque of Omar at 
Jerusalem, El Haram is partially surrounded with 
houses which join the walls, so that it presents no 
external front; and some of the houses have windows 
that overlook the interior. The eastern angle of the 
temple is rounded off, to conform to the line of the 
principal street, so that the gallery is narrowed at that 
angle, hardly allowing space enough to pass between 
the wall and the column. In the south-eastern gal- 
lery, there is, for a short distance, a fourth row of 
arches. The temple has nineteen gates, with thirty- 
eight arches.* The Bab Saffa is the only one that 
has an ornamented front: all the rest are very plain. 
There are seven minarets; one at each angle of the 
temple; one between the Bab Ziada and the Bab 
JDouriba, on the north-western side; and two which 
are detached from the body of the building, and stand 
among the houses adjoining the north-eastern wing: 
they are all octangular, and of three stages, but vary 
in size. The other parts of the temple consist, accord- 
ing to AH Bey, of the Kaaba, the well of Zemzem, 
the Makam Ibrahim (place of Abraham), the places 
of the four orthodox sects,! two kobbas or chapels, the 
arch called Bab-es-salem, el monbar (the tribune), and 
el daureh, the wooden staircase by which access is 
obtained to the Kaaba.J 

* Pitts says: ' It hath about forty-two doors to enter into it, 
not so much, I think, for necessity as figure; for, in some 
places, they are close by one another.' He probably mistook 
every arch with a false door for its separate entrance. 

t For an account of the founders of the four sects of Hanifi- 
tes, Malekites, Shafeites, and Hanbalites, see Mod. Trav., 
Palestine, p. 107. Each has in like manner its separate place 
of prayer in the Haram Shereefat Jerusalem. 

$ The annexed plate is copied from one given by Niebuhr, 
on the authority of a Turkish original. The figures should be 



o 
o 

> 



2 



H 
S3 

K 

Q 



f> 





ARABIA. %£B 

The greatest curiosity, and the only part which lays 
claim to high antiquity, is the Kaaba itself, otherwise 
callad Beit Allah, the House of God. It is described 
by Ali Bey as a quadrilateral tower, the sides and 
angles of which are unequal, so that its plan forms a 
true trapezium. The size of the edifice, and the black 
cloth which covers it, make this irregularity disap- 
pear, and give it the figure of a perfect square. It is 
built of square-hewn but unpolished stones of quartz, 
schorl, and mica, brought from the neighbouring 
mountains. Its height is thirty -four 'feet four inches, 
and the sides vary from twenty-nine to thirty-eight 
feet in length. The black stone is built or ' incrusted' 
in the angle formed by the N. E. and S. E. sides, and 
is believed to face exactly the East. It is raised forty- 
two inches above the pavement, and is bordered all 
round with a large plate of silver about a foot broad. 
This miraculous block, which they call Hhajera el 
Jlssouad, the heavenly stone, is believed by all true 
Moslems to have been originally a transparent hya- 
cinth presented to Abraham by the angel Gabriel, 

explained as follows: 1. The Kaaba. 2. El Monbar. 3. El 
Makam Ibrahim (the place of the Shafeites). 4. El Mak- 
am Hhanbeli (place of the Hanbalites). 5. El Makam 
Maleki (place of the Malekites.) 6. El Makam Hhaneffi, 
(place of the Kanifites). 7. The well Zemzera. 8. El 
Kobbata'ira, buildings in which they keep the lamps, oil, &c. 
9. The position of the Black Stone. . 10. The belt embroider- 
ed with letters of gold. 11. El Hajar Isma I. 12. Bab 
es Salam. 18. Bab Keid Bey. 14. Bab-en- JVebbi. 15. 
Bab Ali. 16. Bab Saffa. 17. Bab Essiade. 18. Bab 
Ibrahim. 19. Minaret AIL 20. Minaret Keid Bey. 
21. Minaret Abbassioun. 22. Minaret Udda. 23. Mi- 
naret Kalaoun. 24. Minaret Bab Omra. Neither Bab 
Keid Bey, Bab Essiade, nor Bab Omra, are mentioned by 
Ali Bey under those names; and, if Niebuhr's authority be 
correct, his enumeration of the gates is in other respects inac- 
curate. 

VOL. I. 21 



226 ARABIA. 

who brought it from heaven; but, being touched by 
an impure woman, it became black and opaque.* It 
is, in fact, AH Bey says, < a fragment of volcanic 
basalt, sprinkled throughout its circumference with 
small, pointed, coloured crystals, and varied with red 
feldspath upon a dark black ground like coal, except 
one of its protuberances, which is a little reddish. 
The continual kisses and touchings of the faithful 
have worn the surface uneven, so that it has now a 
muscular appearance, with one deep hollow.' It is 
discovered through an opening in the black cloth, which 
covers the whole of the building except the base, 
called Tob el Kaaba (the shirt of the Kaaba) A new 
Tob is brought every year from Cairo, and put up on 
Easter day; but, instead of being spread out at first, 
like the old one, it is fastened up in drapery, to keep 
it from the hands of the pilgrims. A new curtain 
also is annually sent to cover the door, which is truly 
magnificent, being entirely embroidered with gold 
and silver. At about two thirds of its height, the 
Tob is embroidered with a band of gold two feet 
broad, with inscriptions from the Koran, which are 
repeated on all the four sides: it is called el hazem, 
the belt. The belt and the curtain are the perquisite 
of the sultan-shereef, except when the first day of 
Easter falls on a Friday: they are then sent to the 
Grand Seignior, to whom the water of Zemzem is sent 
every year? The old Tob is cut up and sold at five 
francs a cubit, but, being covered with inscriptions, 
it is not a very marketable article.! On the N. W. 

* Pitts writes it Kaggar esswaed, and ascribes its black 
colour to the sins of the multitudes who kiss it. 

+ The demand for it seems to have declined. Pitts says: 
< The hagges care not almost how much they give for a piece 
of it. They being so eager after these shreds, a piece of the 
bigness of a sheet of paper will cost a sultane, i. e. nine or 
ten shillings. Yea, the very cotton rope to which the lower 



ARABIA. 



227 



side of the Kaaba, there is a sort of parapet, above 
five feet high and three wide, enclosing a semicircular^ 
place paved with very fine marbles, (some of them of 
a fine green,) called El Hajar Ismael, the stones of 
Ismael. Between this parapet and the body of the 
Kaaba is a space of about six feet, leaving a passage 
on either side. * It is thought that Ismael was buried 
in this place.' The basement of (he building is of 
marble, twenty inches high, and projecting ten inches. 
There are large bronze rings fixed in it at regular 
distances all round, to which is fastened by strings, 
the lower border of the black cloth that covers the 
walls. The threshold of the entrance is about six feet 
above the pavement, — Pitts says, ' as high as a n an 
can reach.' There are folding doors of wood plated 
over with silver, and fastened with an enormous silver 
padlock. Except in extraordinary cases, this door is 
opened only twice a year: it is then entered by a sort 
of ladder-staircase, about eight feet wide, and consist- 
ing of ten steps, with rails on each side, mounted on 
six large rollers. 

The interior of the Kaaba consists simply of a room 
or hall, with two wooden pillars, of less than two feet 
diameter, in the middle, to support the roof. Both 
the columns and the walls, to within five feet of the 
floor, as well as the roof, are covered with a magni- 
ficent cloth of rose-coloured silk, sprinkled with 
flowers embroidered in silver, and lined with white 
silk. Every sultan of Constantinople is obliged to 

part of the covering was fastened, is also cut in pieces, un- 
twisted, and sold. Man)- buy a piece of the covering on pur- 
pose to have it laid on their breast when they are dead, and be 
buried with them: this they carry always with them, esteem- 
ing it as an excellent amulet to preserve them from all manner 
of danger. I am apt to believe that the sultan-shirreef makes 
as much money of the old covering as the new may cost, al- 
though, they say, that the work that is in it, is alone the em- 
ployment of many people for a whole year.' 



$28 ARABIA. 

send a new one when he mounts the throne ; and this 
is the only occasion on which it is changed. 'As 
the columns Were beginning to decay at the bottom, 
where they are not covered with the rich cloth, they 
have covered them with bands of wood, one or two 
inches in breadth, placed perpendicularly, and fastened 
together by bronze nails gilded. The lower part of 
the walls, which is also left uncovered, is inlaid with 
fine marbles, some plain, others with flowers in ara- 
besque or relief, or with inscriptions. The floor is 
paved also with the finest marble. There are bars 
that go from one column to the other, and from both 
columns to the wall, which are said to be of silver; 
and an infinite number of gold lamps are suspended 
from it one over another. At the northern angle of 
the hall is a staircase by which persons ascend to 
the roof: it is covered by a partition, the door of 
which is shut. The roof is flat above, and has only 
one very large gutter upon the north-west side, by 
which the rain runs off into the stones of Ismael: it 
is said to be of gold; it appeared to me, however, to 
be only of gilt bronze.'* 

El Makam Ibrahim is a parallelogram facing the 
door of the Kaaba, at the distance of thirty-four 
feet : it is twelve feet nine inches long, and seven 
feet eight inches wide. The roof is supported by six 
pilasters, rather more than six feet high. The half 

* ' I professs,' says Pitts, « I found nothing worth seeing in 
it ; only two wooden pillars in the midst, to keep up the roof, 
and a bar of iron fastened to them, on which hung three or 
four silver lamps, which are, I suppose, but seldom if ever 
lighted. In one corner of the Beit is an iron or brass chain, (I 
cannot tell which, for I made no use of it,) the pilgrims just 
clap it about their necks in token of repentance. The floor is 
of marble. The walls, though of marble on the inside, are 
hung all over with silk, which is pulled off before the hadjjis 
enter.' The lamps seem to have multiplied since Pitts was 
at Mekka. 



ARABIA. 229 

of the enclosure nearest the Kaaba is surrounded with 
a fine railing of bronze, the door of which is always 
kept fastened with a silver padlock. This railing en- 
closes a sort of sarcophagus, hung with a black clcth 
magnificently embroidered with gold and silver, and 
having large golden acorns attached to it. This sar- 
cophagus, we are told, ' is nothing else than a large 
stone that served Abraham for a footstool to construct 
the Kaaba, and increased in height as the building 
advanced, to facilitate his labours; at the same time 
that the stones came out miraculously, already squared, 
from the spot wneie tiie iootstooi now stanas, and 
passed into Ismail's hands, and thence into his 
father's.'* A small cupola surmounts this part of 
the building. 

El Bir Zemzem (the well Zemzem) is enclosed in 
a small building, comprising the room of the well, ano- 
ther smaller apartment in which the pitchers are kept, 
and a staircase leading to the terrace-roof, which is 
surrounded with a railing, and divided into two 
parts: one encloses two large horizontal mart e sun- 
dials, to mark the hours of prayer; the other, which 
is crowned with a pretty cupola supported by eight 
pilasters, is a makam of the shafeites. The staircase 
has a separate entrance. The room of the well is 
rather more than seventeen feet square; it is lined 
and paved with marble, and lighted by eight win- 
dows, three to the west, three to the north, two, with 
the door, to the east, and three niches towards the 
store-room. The outside has a small (a ade of fine 
white marble. The number of pitchers is immense, 
occupying not only the room adjoining that of 
the well, but the two kobbas, and several other rooms 
ranged round the court. They are of unglazed earth, 
so porous that the water filters through; are fifteen 

* See page 46, note. 
VOL. I. 21 # 



230 ARABIA. 

inches in length, with a long cylindrical throat, and 
a body terminating in a point, so that they cannot 
stand upright. The well itself is about seven feet 
and a half in diameter, and fifty-six feet deep to the 
surface of the water. The brim is of fine white 
marble, five feet high, and is intended to keep off 
the pilgrims from helping themselves to the water. 
Three leather buckets, attached to pulleys, serve to 
draw up the water, which is very limpid, but brackish 
and heavy. 6 Notwithstanding the depth of the well 
and the heat of the climate, it is hotter, when first 
drawn up, than the air. It resembles warm water, 
which proves that there is at the bottom a particular 
cause of vehement heat. It is wholesome, neverthe- 
less, and so abundant, that, at the period of the pil- 
grimage, though there were thousands of pitchers-full 
drawn, its level was not sensibly diminished. 

£ As soon as a distinguished pilgrim arrives at 
Mekka, they inscribe his name in the book of the 
chief of the Zemzem, who orders one of his servants 
to furnish and to carry water to the house of the pil- 
grim. The pitchers are marked with the name of the 
person in black wax; and some mystical inscriptions 
are usually added. Besides the pitchers which are 
furnished to the pilgrims, the water-carriers of Zem- 
zem walk continually in the temple, to sell and dis- 
tribute the water. It is also common, in the evening, 
for them to spread a very great number of long, nar- 
row mats in the court of the temple, and to place 
before the mats a ro v of pitchers half full of water, 
which are placed obliquely; so that the persons who 
come to sit upon the mats find each a pitcher before 
them, which is very agreeable in a warm country, 
and draws a large concourse of people to the temple 
before the hour of prayer of moagreb, or sunset. It 
is a period of social union, during which they recite 
prayers, or talk pleasantly in company until that hour 
approaches.' 



ARABIA, 231 

The chief of the Zemzemis a personage of no small 
consequence. ' Ashe possesses the entire confidence 
of the shereef, he fills the most important place. His 
title is, the poisoner! This dangerous man,' says 
Ali Bey, c was known to me the first time I went to 
the well of Zemzem, when he made his court assi- 
duously to me. He gave me a magnificent dinner, 
and sent me every day two small pitchers of the water 
of the miraculous well. He even watched the mo- 
ments when I went to the temple, and ran with the 
most winning grace and sweetness to present me 
a handsome cup filled with the same water, which I 
drank to the last drop, because it would have been 
considered as a sort of crime or impiety to refuse it. 
This wretch observes the same conduct to all pashas 
and important personages who come here. Upon the 
slightest suspicion, or the least caprice that may arise 
in the mind of the shereef, he orders, the other obeys, 
and the unhappy stranger ceases to exist. As it is 
reckoned impious not to accept the sacred water pre- 
sented by the chief of the well, this man is arbiter of 
the lives of every one, and has already sacrificed 
many victims. For this reason, the Moggrebins, or 
Arabs of the West, who are entirely devoted to me, 
hastened to warn me to be upon my guard, on my 
arrival in the city. I myself treated this traitor with 
the greatest marks of confidence. I accepted his 
water and his entertainments with an unalterable 
serenity and coolness. I took the precaution, how- 
ever, to keep always in my pocket three doses of 
vitriolated zinc, (a much more active emetic than tar- 
tar-emetic,) to take the instant I should perceive the 
least indication of treason.' This official assassin is 
described as a young man,' about twenty-two or 
twenty-four years of age, extremely handsome, with 
fine eyes: ' he dresses remarkably well, is very 
polished, has an air of sweetness which is seducing, 
and appears to be endowed with all the qualities that 



232 ARABIA. 

render a person amiable.' ( From time imme- 
morial,' we are told, ' the sultan-shereefs of Mekka 
have had a poisoner at their court; and it is remark- 
able that they do not try to conceal it, since it is well 
known in Egypt and at Constantinople, that the 
divan has several times sent to Mekka pashas, or 
other persons to be sacrificed in this manner.' The 
well of Zemzem is believed by the Moslems to have 
been the one miraculously opened by the angel of the 
Lord for Hagar, when nearly perishing from thirst in 
the desert with her son Ishmael.* Whoever owned 
the well originally, the devil would seem to be its pro- 
prietor now. 

El Bab-es-salem is an insulated arch, of hewn 
stone, nineteen feet and a half in breadth, and fifteen 
feet and a half high, terminating in a point: it 
stands between the Makam Ibrahim and the Kaaba 
El Monbar, the tribune of the imaum on Fridays, is 
the most highly finished and precious monument of 
the temple. It stands on one side of the Makam 
Ibrahim, in front of the northern angle of the Kaaba 
Its form is that of a staircase, about three feet wide, 
terminating at a small platform, surmounted by an 
octangular pyramidal cupola of gilt bronze, which 
rests on four small columns united by arches. The 
steps are of very fine white marble. The exterior 
sides, the railing, the base, and the bronze gate at the 
entrance, are all of beautiful workmanship. Here, 
as in all the mosques, the imaum does not ascend 
to the platform, but remains upon the last step 
but one, with his back towards the Kaaba. There is 
a dress peculiar to the imaum of the temple, con- 
sisting of a large kaftan of white-wool tissue, and' a 
shawl equally light and white, which covers his head, 

* Gen. xxi, 19. The well to which Hagar was directed, 
was in the wilderness of Beersheba. 



ARABIA. 233 

passing once round the neck, and falling with the 
ends before. 

The Kaaba is nearly, but not exactly, in the centre 
of the temple. The ground for about forty feet round 
it is paved with fine marble, on which the pilgrims 
perform the towocif, or circuit. Outside of this is a 
stone pavement about a foot higher, between which 
and the place of toivoaf, there are thirty-one pillars of 
brass, with gilt capitals terminating in a crescent: 
they are about three inches in diameter, and seven feet 
six inches high, resting on a stone base about a foot 
in height and in diameter.* To these pillars are 
fastened iron bars, from which are suspended a num- 
ber of lamps of thick green glass, disposed without 
order or regularity, which are lighted every evening. 
Upon the outer pavement are the four makams or 
praying-places of the four orthodox sects. Since the 
reform of the Wahhabees, however, the order of 
things has been changed: the imaums of Hanifi and 
Hanbali say prayers at the foot of the Kaaba, facing 
the door; the imaum of Shafei at the makam Ibra- 
him; and the imaum of Maleki at his proper place. 
The morning prayer is conducted by the imaum 
of Hanbali; those of noon and sunset, by the imaum 
of Hanifi; the afternoon, by the imaum of Shafei; 
and that of night, by the Imaum of Maleki. | The 
two Kobbas are opposite the door of the Zemzem: 
they are about eighteen feet square, and are sur- 
mounted with cupolas. That part of the court which 

* « About fifteen feet high, and twenty feet distant from 
each other.' — Pitts. 

t The Hanifees, according to Pitts, seem the most serious 
and devout: they are chiefly Turks. The Arabians follow the 
ritual of Shiifei. The Moggrebins, or occidentals, are Male- 
kees. The Ilanbalees are distinguished by rejecting Ali from 
the number of the apostles of Mohammed: in other respects, 
they differ little from the Hanifees. They are few in num- 
ber. 



234 ARABIA. 

is not paved, is of coarse sand. Here are to be seen 
thousands of blue pigeons, or doves, so tame that 
they come and feed out of the hands of the hadjis y 
who never fail to buy corn for the purpose; it being a 
very acceptable offering, Ali Bey says, in the eyes of 
the Deity and those of the she-reef. Women and 
children beset the pilgrim with rush dishes full of 
corn, which they sell at a para ^ach, begging him to 
bestow something on the hammamet metta JVebbi, the 
pigeons of the prophet. 

The door of the Kaaba, as has already been men- 
tioned, is opened only on three days: on the first, all 
the male pilgrims enter; on the day following, the 
women go to perform their devotions; and five days 
after this, a day is set apart to washing and purifying 
it, in which the sultan assists in perso.i. Ali Bey has 
given us a description of this strange scene. 

' Two hours after sunrise, the sultan-shereef went 
to the temple, accompanied by about thirty persons, 
and twelve Negro and Arabian guards. The door of 
the Kaaba was already open, and surrounded with 
an immense number of people. The staircase was 
not placed. The sultan-shereef got upon the shoulders 
and heads of the multitude, and entered with the 
principal sheikhs of the tribes. Those below wished 
to do the same; but the guards prevented them, by 
beating them with their sticks. I staid at a distance 
from the door, to avoid the crowd, and in a short 
time received an order from the shereef of the well to 
advance to the door, where he stood, making signs to 
me. But how could I get through the crowd that 
stood between us? 

c All the water-carriers in Mecca were advancing 
with their vessels full of water, which they passed 
from hand to hand, until they reached the guards 
at the door. They also passed a great number of 
very small brooms, made of the leaves of palm-trees, 
in the same manner. The negroes began to throw 



ARABIA, 



235 



the water upon the marble pavement of the Kaaba: 
they also cast rose-water upon it, which, flowing out 
at a hole under the door, was caught with great 
avidity by the faithful. But as it did not run out 
fast enough to satisfy the wants of those at a dis- 
tance, who were desirous to obtain it, they cried out 
for some of it to drink, and to wash themselves with: 
the negroes, with cups, and with their hands, threw 
it in quantities over them. They were civil enough 
to pass a small pitcher and a cup full of it to me, of 
which I drank as much as possible, and poured the 
rest over myself; for, although this water is very 
dirty, it is a benediction of God, and is besides much 
perfumed with rose-water. 

'I at last made an effort to approach: several per- 
sons raised me up; and, after walking upon the heads 
of several others, I arrived at the door, where the 
negro guards helped me to get in. I was prepared 
for the operation; for I had on only my shirt, a 
caschaba, or a shirt of white wool without sleeves, 
my turban, and the hhaik that covered me. 

i The sultan-shereef swept the hall himself. Im- 
mediately after I entered, the guards took off my 
hhaik, and presented me a bundle of small brooms, 
some of which I took in each hand; and at the in- 
stant they threw a great deal of water upon the 
pavement, I began my duty by sweeping with both 
hands, with an ardent faith, although the floor was 
quite clean, and polished like glass. During this ope- 
ration, the shereef, who had finished, began to pray. 
They gave me afterwards a silver cup, filled with a 
paste made of the saw-dust of sandal wood, kneaded 
with the essence of roses; and I spread it upon the 
lower part of the wall, that is incrusted with marble, 
under the tapestry which covered the walls and the 
roof ; and also a large piece of aloe wood, which I 
burned in a large chafing-dish, to perfume the hall. 
After I had finished all these things, the sultan-shereef 



236 ARABIA. 

proclaimed me Hhaddem Beit Allah el Haram or 
Servant of the Holy House of God; and I 're- 
ceived the congratulations of all the assistants. I 
recited my prayers in the first three corners, as upon 
my first entering; and thus entirely completed my 
duties, whilst I attended to this pious work. The sul- 
tan withdrew a short time after. 

'A great number of women, who were in the 
court at some distance from the door of .the Kaaba, 
uttered from time to time shrill cries of rejoicino-! 
They gave me a small quantity of the sandal wood 
paste, and two of the small brooms, as interesting 
relics, which I kept most carefully. The negroes 
helped me down upon the people, who also assisted 
me to reach the ground, and addressed compliments 
of felicitation to me. I then went to the Makam 
Ibrahim to say a prayer. They returned me my 
hhaik; and I went home completely wet.' 

Five days after this, they cut that part of the black 
cloth that surrounded the door and bottom of the 
building, and distributed it among the pilgrims; and 
thus was completed the iaharmo el Beit Allah, the 
puriHcation of the House of God. On the same day, 
Ali Bey had the good fortune to see a part of the 
Wahhabee army enter Mekka, to fulfil the duties of 
pilgrimage. < But what men! 5 he exclaims. 'You 
must imagine a crowd of individuals, thronged toge- 
ther, without any other covering than a small piece 
of cloth round their waist, except some few who had 
a napkin placed upon the left shoulder, that passed 
under the right arm; being naked in every other re- 
spect, with their matchlocks upon their shoulders, and 
their khanjears or large knives hung to their girdles. 
All the people fled at the sight of this torrent of men ' 
and left them the whole street to themselves. I de- 
termined to keep my post, not being in the least 
alarmed; and I mounted upon a heap of rubbish to 
observe them better. I saw a column of them defile 



ARABIA. 237 

which appeared to be composed of 5 or 6,000 men, so 
pressed together in the whole width of the street, 
that it would not have been possible to move a hand. 
The column was preceded by three or four horsemen, 
armed with a lance twelve feet long, and followed by 
fifteen or twenty men mounted upon horses, camels, 
and dromedaries, with lances like the others; but 
they had neither flags, drums, nor any other instru- 
ment or military trophy during their march. Some 
uttered cries of holy joy, others recited prayers in a 
confused and loud voice. They marched in this man- 
ner to the upper part of the town, where they began 
to file off in parties, to enter the temple by the gate 
Bab-es-salem. 

c A great number of children belonging to the 

city, who generally serve as guides to strangers, came 

to meet them, and presented themselves successively to 

the different parties, to assist them as guides in the 

sacred ceremonies. I remarked, that among these 

benevolent guides there was not one man. Already 

had the first parties begun their turns round the 

Kaaba, and were pressing towards the black stone to 

kiss it, when the others, impatient no doubt at being 

kept waiting, advanced in a tumult, mixing among 

the first; and confusion being soon at its height, 

prevented them from hearing the voices of their 

young guides. Tumult succeeded to confusion. All 

wishing to kiss the stone, precipitated themselves 

upon the spot; and many of them made their way 

with their sticks in their hands. In vain did their 

chiefs mount the base near the stone, with a view to 

enforce order: their cries and signs were useless; for 

the holy zeal for the house of God which devoured 

them, would not permit them to listen to reason, nor 

to the voice of their chiefs. The movement of the 

circle increased by mutual impulse. They resembled 

at last a swarm of bees, which flutter confusedly 

voh, i. 22 



238 ARABIA. 

round their hive, circulating rapidly and without 
order round the Kaaba, and, by their tumultuous 
pressure, breaking all the lamps which surrounded 
it, with their guns which they carried upon their 
shoulders. 

' After the different ceremonies round the house 
of God, every party ought to have drank and sprinkled 
themselves with the water of the miraculous well; 
but they rushed to it in such crowds, and with so 
much precipitation, that in a few moments the ropes, 
the buckets, and pulleys were ruined. The chief and 
those employed at the Zemzem abandoned their post; 
the Wahhabites alone remained masters of the well; 
and, giving each other their hands, formed a chain to 
descend to the bottom, and obtained the water how 
they could. 

' The well required alms, the house of God offer- 
ings, the guides demanded their pay, but the greater 
part of the Wahhabites had not brought any money 
with them. They acquitted themselves of this obli- 
gation of conscience, by giving twenty or thirty grains 
of a very coarse powder, small pieces of lead, or some 
grains of coffee. 

i These ceremonies being finished, they commenc- 
ed shaving their heads ; for they all had hair an 
inch long. This operation took place in the street ; 
and they paid the barbers in the same coin that 
they had paid the guides, the officers of the temple, 
&c. 

1 These Wahhabites, who are from DraaYya, the 
principal place of the reformers, are of a copper col- 
our. They are in general well made, and very well 
proportioned, but of a short stature. I particularly 
remarked some of their heads, which were so hand- 
some, that they might have been compared with 
those of Apollo, Antinous, or the Gladiator. They 
have very lively eyes, the nose and mouth well form- 
ed, fine teeth, and very expressive countenances. 



ARABIA. 



239 



4 When we represent to ourselves a crowd of naked, 
armed men, without any idea of civilisation, and 
speaking a barbarous language, the picture terrifies 
the imagination, and appears disgusting ; but if we 
overcome this first impression, we find in them some 
commendable qualities. They never rob either by 
force or stratagem, except when they know the object 
belongs to an enemy or an infidel. They pay with 
their money all their purchases and every service 
that is rendered them. Being blindly subservient to 
their chiefs, they support in silence every fatigue, and 
would allow themselves to be led to the opposite side 
of the globe. In short, it may be perceived that they 
are men the most disposed to civilisation, if they were 
to receive proper instruction. 

i Having returned home, I found that fresh 
bodies of Wahhabites were continually arriving, to 
fulfil the duties of their pilgrimage. But what was 
the conduct of the sultan-shereef during this period ? 
Being unabled to resist these forces, he hid himself, 
fearing an attack from tbem. The fortresses were 
provisioned and prepared for defence ; the Arabian, 
Turkish, Mogrebin, and Negro soldiers were at their 
posts; I saw several guards and sentinels upon the 
forts ; several gates were walled up ; all was ready, 
in short, in case of aggression ; but the moderation of 
the Wahhabites 7 and the negotiations of the shereef, 
rendered these precautions useless.' 

The city of Mekka, the capital of Hedjaz, and the 
centre of Islam, is situated in a very narrow valley, 
winding irregularly between mountains from the N. 
E. to the S. W., the mean breadth of which is sup- 
posed by Ali Bey to be about 155 toises, or between 
900 and 1,000 feet. It stands in lat. 21° 28' 9" N., 
long. 40° 15' E. of Greenwich. On account of its 
position, it is impossible to gain a good view of the 
city. ' If I went out at either end,' says Ali Bey, 
' the mountains allowed me to discover only a few 



240 ARABIA. 

houses ; and if I went out at the sides, I found my- 
self upon the side of the mountains, whence I could 
perceive nothing but an irregular surface of flat roofs 
without any perspective.* In short, it may be con- 
sidered as an assemblage of a great number of houses, 
grouped to the north of the temple, prolonging them- 
selves in the form of a crescent from the N. E. to the 
S. W. by S. It covers a line of 900 toises in length 
and 266 in breadth at its centre, which extends from 
east to west. The principal streets are regular enough: 
they may even be called handsome, on account of the 
pretty fronts of the houses. They are sanded, level, 
and very convenient. I had been so long accustomed 
to live in the indifferent towns of Africa, that I was 
quite surprised at the fine appearance of the buildings 
of Mekka.| I think they approach the Indian or 
Persian taste, which introduced itself during the time 
of the siege by the Khalif of Bagdadt. They have 
two rows of windows, as at Cyprus, with balconies 
covered with blinds. There are even several large 
windows quite open, as in Europe ; but the greater 
number are covered with a curtain like a Venetian 
blind, made of palm-tree. They are extremely light, 
and screen the apartments from the sun, without inter- 
rupting the passage of the air. They fold up at plea- 
sure at the upper part. The houses are solidly built 
with stone : they are three and four stories high, and 

* The view of Mekka given by M. Ohsson in the ' Picture 
of the Ottoman Empire,' is pronounced to be ' no longer like 
that city,' if it is not rather a picture of the imagination. 

t Pitts speaks of the buildings, however, in terms of depre- 
ciation. * It is a place,' he says, ' of no force, wanting both 
walls and gates. Its buildings are very ordinary, insomuch 
that it would be a place of no tolerable entertainment, were 
it not for the anniversary resort of so many thousand hajjes 
or pilgrims, on whose coming the whole dependence of the 
town in a manner is; for many shops are scarcely open all the 
year besides.' 



ARABIA. 



241 



sometimes even more. The fronts are ornamented 
with bases, mouldings, and paintings, which give them 
a very graceful appearance. It is very rare to find a 
door that has not a base with steps and small seats on 
both sides. The blinds of the balconies are not 
very close; and holes are cut besides in different parts 
of them. The roofs form terraces, surrounded with 
a wall about seven feet high, open at certain spaces, 
which are occupied by a railing of red and white 
bricks placed symmetrically, leaving holes for the 
circulation of the air. All the staircases are narrow, 
dark, and steep. The rooms are well proportioned, 
long, broad, and lofty, and have, besides the large 
windows and balconies, a second row of smaller win- 
dows. The beauty of the houses may be considered 
as the remains of the ancient splendour of Mekka. 
Every inhabitant has an interest in preserving his 
dwelling, to invite and excite the pilgrims to lodge 
with him ; because it is one of his principal resources, 
on account of the terms " demanded, and other addi- 
tional benefits. 

'Mekka is an open city without walls upon any 
of its sides. It has a fortress upon Djebtl Djiad, 
which, in regard to the tactics of this people, might 
be looked upon as a second Gibraltar. : It presents, 
however, nothing but a monstrous assemblage of 
walls and towers, and appears to have been construct- 
ed at different periods, without order, and after an in- 
coherent plan. It is the principal fortress of the 
shereef, who has also two others, very ancient, which 
are flat, and of the form of a parallelogram, with a 
tower at each angle : they are situated upon the north- 
ern and southern mountains. The barracks of the 
Mogrebin and Negro soldiers of the shereef, situated 
without the city upon the road to Arafat, are also 
flanked by towers ; but their position, at the bottom 
of a valley, and at the foot of a mountain, renders 

vol. i. 22* 



242 ARABIA. 

them incapable of defence. There are several insu- 
lated towers in the windings of the valley, which are 
capable of containing a small guard only. The centre 
of the city may be said to be circumscribed and sur- 
rounded by four principal mountains ; viz. Djebel 
Kubis to the east, Djebel Djiad to the south, Djebel 
Omar to the west, and Djebel Hindi to the north. 
These mountains are not very high. They are com- 
posed of quartz with a small portion of hornblende. 
The sand is quartz pulverised; and although there are 
some veins of hornblende, feldspath, mica, and schorl 
to be found among the mountains, yet, quartz forms 
in general the principal mass. There are some veins 
of sulphur which they work.' l The climate of 
Mekka is torrid, not only on account of its geogra- 
phical latitude, but particularly its topographical po- 
sition in the middle of mountains. The greatest heat 
I observed during my stay, was 23° 3(Y of Reaumur, 
on the 5th of February at sunset, and the least, 16°, 
on the 16th of the same month, at seven o'clock in 
the morning. During the time that I was at Mekka, 
the sky was alternately serene and cloudy, as in tem- 
perate climates ; but I did not remark the abrupt and 
terrible changes in the temperature, from dry to 
humid, which I witnessed at Djidda. The climate 
appears wholesome, for there are not many sick of 
chronical complaints there ; but, to compensate for 
this, there are not many old men to be seen ; few, at 
least, of a very advanced age. Some are blind, but 
none with the ophthalmia, so common in Egypt. It 
may be imagined how great must be the heat of sum- 
mer, when, in the month of January, with the win- 
dows open, I could scarcely endure the sheet of the 
bed upon me; and the butter, at the same period, was 
always liquid like water Situated at the bottom of a 
sandy valley, surrounded on all sides by naked moun- 
tains, without river, brook, or any running water, 
without trees, plants, or any vegetation, an idea may 



ARABIA. 243 

be formed of the heat which reigns during summer. 
The aridity of the country is said to be such, that 
there is hardly a plant to be seen near the city or upon 
the neighbouring mountains. The markets are well 
supplied with provisions, but they all are brought 
from a distance, and are proportionably dear. Flour 
is imported from Egypt, vegetables and rice from 
India, herbs, &c, from Tayif All the productions 
of India and Persia, natural as well as artificial, may 
be bought here.' But ' we must not expect to find 
at Mekka any thing like a meadow, still less a garden. 
They do not sow grain, for the too ungrateful soil 
would not produce any plant to the cultivator. There 
are but three or four trees upon the spot where for- 
merly stood the house of Abu Taleb, and six or eight 
others, scattered here and there. These trees are 
prickly, and produce a small fruit similar to that of 
the jujube or nebbek.' ' I never saw but one flower,' 
says Ali Bey, ' during the whole of my stay at 
Mekka, which was upon the way to Arafat. I ordered 
my servant to cut it and bring it to me ; but he was 
perceived by the pilgrims, who ran immediately to 
him, saying, that it was a sin to pluck up or cut any 
plant during the pilgrimage to that place. I was 
therefore obliged to renounce the idea of obtaining 
the only flower I had seen.' 

The rain water which is brought from the neigh- 
bouring mountains, is good : the price is two Turkish 
piasters per camel-load. The well water, though a 
little heavy and brackish, is drinkable, and the lower 
class never drink any other. All the wells are of the 
same depth, and the water is so precisely of the same 
temperature, taste, and clearness as that of the Zem- 
zem, that Ali Bey expresses his conviction, that the 
water which supplies them all is one sheet, about fifty- 
five feet below the surface, the quantity of which is 
owing to the filtration of rain water, and the brackish 
taste derived from the decomposition of the saline 



244 ARABIA. 

particles mixed with the soil. Hence, he observes, 
with more than Mohammedan nal'vete, 'as they have 
the same qualities, and spring from the same source as 
the water of Zemzem, they have the same virtue in 
drawing down the Divine favour and blessing as the 
miraculous well.' 

There are few dogs, we are told, and few insects in 
the holy city, — a remarkable circumstance in a Mo- 
hammedan town, under a tropical latitude. Nay, All 
Bey affirms, that ' bugs and fleas are scarce,' although 
he was sure to catch certain other vermin on those 
days when there were great assemblages at the 
temple. He perceived but very few gnats, but there 
are a great many common flies, and he saw, in the 
court of the temple, one very large scorpion. The 
number of pigeons is immense, and that of mice, of 
the European kind, equally great. He never saw, 
he says, any mice so bold as those of Mekka. They 
danced and leaped upon him in his bed every night, 
would stare him in the face, and once, when he had 
neglected to wash some balm of juniper off his hand, 
bit his fingers severely while he slept. There are cats 
here of the European species, only a little smaller: 
whether their number is too inconsiderable to keep 
the mice under, or whether they are in league with 
the vermin, we are not informed. Notwithstand- 
ing the heat of the climate, and the scarcity of 
water, sheep, goats, oxen, and cows are brought to 
Mekka. Ali Bey saw a very fine species of cow, 
without horns, and with a hump on its back, which, 
he was told, travels with celerity, and gives a great 
deal of milk. There is a very large and pretty spe- 
cies of goat, with horns more than twenty-four inches 
in length, 

1 Mekka not being situated,' observes Ali Bey, 
' in the route to any country of consequence, nature 
has not designed it as a place of commerce, placed as 
it is in the middle of an extremely barren desert, 



ARABIA. 



245 



which prevents its inhabitants from being either 
husbandmen or shepherds. What resources then re- 
main to them for subsistence? The force of arms, 
to oblige other countries to give them a part of their 
productions, or religious enthusiasm, to induce stran- 
gers to come and bring money to them, with which 
they may procure the necessaries of life. 

* In the time of the khalifs, these two causes united, 
rendered Mekka an opulent city; but before and 
since that glorious period, it has had no other re- 
source for its support than the religious enthusiasm 
of the pilgrims, which unfortunately begins to cool 
from day to day, through the effects of time, distance 
of place, and revolutions, that reduce this place to a 
mean and precarious existence. Such is its state at 
this moment, and such was it before the mission of the 
Prophet. 

* Mekka has always been the centre of the religious 
enthusiasm of different nations. The origin of pil- 
grimages, and the first foundation of its temple, are 
lost in the obscurity of ages, since they appear to be 
anterior to the period of history. The Prophet pulled 
down the idols which profaned the house of God. The 
Koran confirmed the pilgrimage; and it is in this 
manner that the devotion of other nations has been 
in all times the basis of the subsistence of the inhabi- 
tants of Mekka. But, as this could not alone suffice, 
they were very poor before the coming of the Prophet; 
and now, after a short reign of glory and riches ac- 
quired by arms, it has relapsed into poverty. How 
then can we hope to see the arts and sciences flourish ? 
Separated by its situation from all commercial inter- 
course, it remains immersed in the most profound 
ignorance of all news, discoveries, revolutions, and the 
actions of other men. Hence it is that the people of 
Mekka will remain in stupidity and the grossest dark- 
ness, notwithstanding the concourse of strangers, who 
only remain there during the time absolutely neces- 



246 ARABIA. 

sary to fulfil the duties of their pilgrimage, to make 
some few commercial exchanges, and then prepare for 
their return to their own country. Thus, Mekka is 
so poor by nature, that if the house of God ceased to 
exist, it would be inevitably deserted in two years, or 
at least reduced to a simple douar or hamlet; for the 
inhabitants in general subsist for the rest of the year 
upon what they accumulate during the time of the 
pilgrimage. At that period, the place puts on a lively 
appearance, commerce is animated, and half of the 
people are transformed into hosts, merchants, porters, 
servants, &c; and the other, attached entirely to the 
service of the temple, live upon the alms and gifts of 
the pilgrims. Such are their resources. Deplora- 
ble opulence! which has stamped upon their counte- 
nances the mark of the extieme misery that surrounds 
them. 

'An Arab is by nature generally thin; but those 
of Mekka, and, above all, those that serve in the 
temple, seem absolutely walking skeletons, clothed 
with a parchment that covers their bones, I must 
own, I was struck with astonishment when I saw them 
for the first time upon my arrival. W hat I have ad- 
vanced may be perhaps considered as an exaggeration; 
but I protest to the truth of my assertions; and may 
also add, that it is impossible, without seeing them, 
to form an idea of an assemblage of such lean and 
scraggy-looking men as all of them are, with the ex- 
ception of the chief of Zemzem, who is the only person 
that is at all lusty, and two or three eunuchs, a little 
less thin than the others. It appears even impossible 
that these skeletons, or shadows, should be able to 
stand so long as they do, when we reflect upon their 
large, sunken eyes, slender noses, cheeks hollow to the 
bones, legs and arms absolutely shrivelled up, ribs, 
veins, and nerves, in no better state; and the whole 
of their frame, so wasted, that they might be mistaken 



ARABIA. 247 

for true anatomical models.* Such is the frightful 
appearance of these unhappy creatures, that it is pain- 
ful to be obliged to look at them. This is the exist- 
ence which these servants of the temple enjoy; but 
the pleasures which await them in paradise, are pre- 
ferable to all the riches of the earth. 

' There are no people more dull and melancholy 
than these. I never once heard the sound of a musical 
instrument or song during the whole of my stay, that 
was executed by a man; but my ears were struck once 
or twice by the songs of some women, which I set to 
music. Plunged in a continual melancholy, the least 
contradiction irritates them; and the few slaves they 
have, are the most unhappy and wretched of all the 
Mussulman slaves, in consequence of the bad treat- 
ment they experience. I heard, in the house I lived 
in, a master beat his slave with a x bastinado during a 
quarter of an hour. He stopped every three or four 
minutes to allow his arm to rest, and then recom- 
menced with new force. 

' It may be deduced from these observations, that 
the population of Mekka diminishes sensibly. This 
city, which is known to have contained more than 
100,000 souls, does not at present shelter more than 
from 16 to 18,000. There are some quarters of the 
suburbs entirely abandoned and in ruins; nearly two- 
thirds of the houses that remain are empty; and the 
greater part of those that are inhabited, are decaying 
within, notwithstanding the solidity of their construc- 
tion, the fronts alone being kept in good order, to at- 
tract the pilgrims. In consequence of the inattention 
that is paid to repairs, the houses are falling down; 
and if there are no new ones erected, (and I saw only 
one that was advancing slowly in the whole town,) 
it will be reduced, in the course of a century, to the 
tenth part of the size it now is. ? 

* c The people here,' says Pitts, < are a poor sort of people, 
very thin, lean, and swarthy.' 



248 ARABIA. 

The little commerce that now exists at Mekka, is 
confined to the caravans that arrive at the time of 
the pilgrimage. Formerly, besides the grand Syrian 
hadji, the Egyptian, and the Mogrebin, another 
caravan came from Bagdadt, attended by a great 
number of Persian pilgrims, a smaller one was made 
up of pilgrims from Lachsa, JBahhrein, and JNedjed, a 
sixth came from Oman, a seventh from Yemen, and 
numbers of pilgrims arrived by sea from Persia, Hin- 
dostan, Java, Sumatra, and the Arabian colonies on 
the African coast. But all these have greatly de- 
clined; and the consumption of the city constantly 
diminishes, owing to the diminution in the funds 
which are supplied by the arrival of the pilgrims. 
f Formerly,' says Ali Bey, ' the numerous caravans 
which arrived from all quarters of the globe where 
the religion of Islamism was practised, provided for 
all the wants of the city, by the abundance of alms 
which they left; but now that the number is dimi- 
nished, and the pilgrims are not in a state to contri- 
bute to the expenses, the number of persons employed 
being always the same, devotion and the practice of 
religion are become very dear, because those employed 
attach themselves to the pilgrim whom they believe 
to be rich; so that he cannot quit without leaving 
1,500 or 2000 francs in alms and remuneration to 
them and the temple. There are not any of the 
pilgrims, even the poorest, who undertake the journey 
at the expense of public charity, or who beg their way, 
that are not obliged to leave some crowns. 

i The caravans also brought large gifts from their 
respective countries on the part of their countrymen, 
but there comes hardly any thing now. The chief of 
the country, too, used to contribute a part of their 
subsistence, but, being now impoverished by the 
revolution of the Wahhabees, far from giving, he takes 
all that he can get.' 

The moral state of the population corresponds to 



J 



ARABIA. 249 

that of other holy cities. As the Christians at Jeru- 
salem, Bethlehem, and ]N"azareth are said to be worse 
than other Christians, so are the Mohammedans of 
Mekka worse than other Moslems. ' Though this 
place,' says Pitts, ■ is esteemed so very holy, yet, it 
comes short of none for lewdness and debauchery. 
As for uncleanness, it is equal to Grand Cairo; and 
they will steal even in the temple itself.' Ali Bey 
gives a similar account of the state of things. 

' The women enjoy more liberty at Mekka than in 
any other Mussulman city. Perhaps the great con- 
course of strangers who arrived when the city was in 
its greatest opulence, contributed to change their man- 
ners; and their misery and natural dullness have 
tended to plunge them into an almost total indifference 
in this respect. It is an indubitable fact, that opulence 
and poverty are extremes equally opposite to the pre- 
servation of manners. 

1 The women cover their faces, as in Egypt, with 
a piece of cloth, in which there are two holes worked 
for the eyes, which are so large that half their face 
may be seen; and a few show nearly the whole. 
They all wear a sort of cloak made of blue and 
white striped linen, as at Alexandria, which is put 
on with much grace; but, when a sight of their faces 
is obtained, the illusion is soon dispelled; for they 
are in general very ugly, with lemon-coloured com- 
plexions, like the men. Their faces and their hands, 
which are daubed all over with black, blue, and 
yellow, present a frightful picture to strangers; but 
custom has made them consider this painting as a 
sign of beauty. I saw some who had a ring passed 
through the cartilage of the nose, which hung down 
upon their upper lip. 

c Their freedom is such, in comparison with Mus- 
sulman manners in general, that I may almost call it 
effrontery. I saw several of those that lived in the 
neighbouring houses present themselves continually 

vol i. 23 



250 ARABIA. 

at the windows, and some of them entirely undressed. 
A lady who occupied the upper story of the house in 
which I lived, used to make me a thousand courtesies 
and compliments, with her face completely uncovered, 
every time I went upon the terrace to make my 
astronomical observations; and I began to suspect 
that the women themselves might perhaps be a branch 
of the speculation of their poor husbands. 

< All the women I saw, had a great deal of grace, 
and very fine eyes: but their hollow cheeks, painted 
of a greenish yellow, gave them the appearance of 
having the jaundice. Their noses are regular, but 
they have large mouths. They speak very well, and 
express themselves with great feeling. They engrave 
indelible drawings upon their skin, and stain their 
eyelids black, their teeth yellow, and their lips, feet, 
and hands, of a red tile colour, like the Egyptians, 
and with the same materials. 

1 Their dress consists of an immense pantaloon, 
that descends into their slippers, or half boots, of 
yellow leather, and is composed of Indian striped 
cotton. The poorer uort wear them of blue cloth. 
They have, besides, a shift of a size and form the 
most extravagant. It is composed of two square 
cloths, six feet long and five broad, which are united 
at the upper part, except an opening in the middle, 
to pass the head through. The lower corners are cut 
out about seven inches, like the segment of a circle; 
so that what was before an angle becomes a hollow 
slope. These slopes are both sewed; but the lower 
part and the sides remain open from top to bottom. 
The rich wear these shifts made of slight, striped silk 
tissue, as fine as gauze, which comes from Egypt, 
and gather them in plaits on each side upon the 
shoulders, binding them round the waist with a belt 
Above these they wear a caftan of India cotton. ' * 
never saw them wear any other ornament upon the 
head than a handkerchief ; but they put rings and 



ARABIA. 



251 



bracelets upon their hands, arms, legs, and feet, like 
the women in other Mussulman countries. 

f The Bedouin women, or those that live in the 
interior of the country, and appear to be of the high- 
est rank, have for their only costume, a large shift of 
blue stuff; a cloth of a coquelicot colour upon their 
faces; a very large cloak, or black veil, of wool; some 
rings, bracelets, and a few other jewels. 

' The costume of the men at Mekka is, as in 
Egypt, composed of a benish, or exterior caftan, 
bound with a belt, a shirt, drawers, and babouches, 
or slippers; but this is the dress of persons in place, 
merchants, and those employed about the temple, &c. 
The lower people have hardly ever more than a shirt 
and drawers. 

' The Bedouin Arab wears commonly a large 
cloak without sleeves over his tunic, made of a tissue 
of coarse wool, or of a slight cloth, both sides of 
which are alike, and commonly with alternate stripes 
of brown and white, each a foot broad. 

< The inhabitants of the city wear red caps and 
turbans; but the Bedouins do not: they cover their 
heads with a handkerchief, striped yellow, red, and 
black, folded diagonally in the form of a trian- 
gle, and simply thrown upon the head; so that 
two of the angular points fall before the shoulders, 
and the other behind the neck upon the back. Those 
that are rich wear a piece of muslin twisted round the 
head, above the handkerchief, in the form of a tur- 
ban; but the poor go almost naked. 

f With the exception of those employed about the 
temple, and a small number of merchants, the people 
go always armed. The arms that are most common 
are, the large curved knife, halbert, lance, mace, and 
some few guns. The knives have sheaths of a most 
singular form; for, independent of the space occupied 
by the blade, it is prolonged about a foot, in a semi- 
circular form, and terminated by a ball, or some 



252 ARABIA. 

other ornament, more or less carved. It is hung 
obliquely before the body, the handle towards the left 
side, with the point upwards ; so that the movement 
of the right arm is greatly impeded by this position, 
which is maintained by force of custom. So true is 
it, that men of all ranks and countries are subject to 
the caprices of fashion. 

1 The halberts are composed of a stick, from four 
feet and a half to five feet long, armed at the top 
with an iron point, and very commonly with a 
smaller one at the bottom. The upper one is always 
more than a foot long, and is differently formed; 
sometimes broad and narrow; at other times, like a 
lance or bayonet. The handles are often ornamented 
with small nails and rings of brass from top to 
bottom. The mace is formed of a stick two feet 
long, and about fifteen lines in diameter, terminated 
by a ball or globe of the same wood, about thirty 
lines in diameter. Some maces are of iron. Of 
the guns there are but few, and the greater part are 
heavy matchlocks, rudely formed. There are some, 
however, that are well made and very elegant. I 
have one inlaid with ivory, which cost 120 francs. 

1 Some Arabs carry axes, nearly two feet long; 
and others go armed with a stick, five feet long 
and two inches thick, with an iron point at the bot- 
tom of it. 

i The horsmen carry a lance ten feet and a half 
long, ornamented with a tuft of black feathers at the 
jointing of iron, the other end being also armed with 
a small point, which the bearer sticks perpendicularly 
in the ground when he alights. 

' I saw some Arabs of Yemen armed with a sword 
and shield: the former was straight and broad; the 
latter of metal, hard wood, or the skin of the hippopo- 
tamus, (those of the latter substance were the best,) 
and all were ornamented with carvings. They were 
about a foot broad. 



ARABIA. 



253 



( The people of the country assured me, that the 
ceremonies of marriages and births were not accom- 
panied by any feasts or rejoicings, as in other 
countries; and I myself did not see any celebrated. 
Interments take place without any ceremony. They 
carry the body to the foot of the Kaaba, where the 
faithful who are present repeat a short prayer for the 
deceased after the ordinary canonical prayer; and 
they carry away the corpse to bury it in a ditch out- 
side the town. There are a number of hand-barrows 
for this purpose before one of the doors of the temple, 
in the public path; one of which is engaged by the 
family of the deceased, who place the body upon it, 
dressed in its ordinary habit, without the least orna- 
ment, or even the covering of a pall. After the in- 
terment, they bring the barrow to the place from 
whence they took it. 

1 I remarked, that in all Arabia, it is customary to 
make three perpendicular incisions upon each cheek; 
in consequence of which, the greater part of the men 
are adorned with this fine mark, that is to say, six 
large scars. Having inquired of many persons the 
object of this custom, I was informed by some, that it 
was to make themselves bleed, and by others, that 
it was a mark by which they declared themselves 
slaves of the house of God. But the truth is, that it 
is fashion which recommends this sacrifice; and they 
look upon it as a beauty, equal to the blue, red, and 
black paintings, or the nose-rings of the women, or 
their own knives, which impede all their movements. 
Such is man! 

' 1 believe there is no Mussulman city where the 
arts are so little known as at Mekka. There is not 
a man to be found that is capable of making a lock or 
forging a key. All the doors are locked with large 
wooden keys, and the trunks and cases with padlocks 
brought from Europe: I, therefore, was unable to 
vol. i. 23* 



254 ARABIA. 

replace the key of a trunk, and that of my telescope- 
box, which were stolen at Mina. 

■ The slippers and sandals are brought from Con- 
stantinople and Egypt; for they know not how to 
make them at Mekka, except, indeed, those of wood 
or untanned leather, which are very bad. 

i There is not a single man to be found who knows 
how to engrave an inscription, or any kind of design 
upon a hewn stone, as formerly; nor a single gun- 
smith or cutler able to make a screw, or to replace 
a piece of the lock of a European gun; those of the 
country being able to manufacture only their rude 
matchlocks, their bent knives, lances, and halberds. 
Wherever they go, there shop is fitted up in a 
moment: all that is wanted for this purpose is, a 
hole made in the ground, which serves as a furnace; 
one or two goat-skins, which one of them waves 
before the fire, serve them for bellows: two or three 
palm-leaves and four sticks form the walls and the 
roof of the work-shop, the situation of which they 
change whenever occasion requires. 

■ l There is no want of braziers for vessels in copper, 
but the original article comes from foreign manufac- 
tories. There are also tinmen, who make a kind 
of vase, which the pilgrims use to carry away some of 
the water of Zemzem. I discovered also a bad en- 
graver of brass seals. 

c The sciences are found in the same state of per- 
fection as the arts at Mekka. The whole know- 
ledge of the inhabitants is confined to reading the 
Koran, and to writing very badly. They learn from 
their infancy the prayers and the ceremonies of 
the pilgrimage to the house of God, to Saffa, and to 
Meroua, in order to be able at an early age to gain 
money by officiating as guides to the pilgrims. Chil- 
dren of five or six years old are to be seen fulfilling 
these functions, carried upon the arms or shoulders 
of the pilgrims, who repeat, word for word, the prayers 



ARABIA. 



255 



which the children recite * at the same time that 
they follow the path pointed out by them to the dif- 
ferent places. 

< I wished to obtain a Koran written at Mekka, but 
copies are not numerous; and they are so badly written 
and so full of errors, that they cannot be of any use. 
There are no regular schools, if we except those 
where they learn to read and write. In short, there 
are only a few tdlbes, or doctors, who, through 
caprice, vanity, or covetousness of obtaining some- 
thing from their auditors, go and sit under the 
porticos of the temple, where they begin to read 
in a loud voice. This draws a crowd of persons, who 
generally assemble pretty quickly, and arrange them- 
selves round the doctor, who explains, reads, or 
preaches, whichever he can do, and they go away or 
stay as they please. Such is the education of the 
people of this holy city, who are the most ignorant of 
mortals. It is true that their geographical situation 
contributes to it in a great measure. 

1 Mekka and Medinah are the cradles of the Arabic 
language; but this, in consequence of the general 
ignorance, is degraded and changed, even in the 
pronunciation, to such a degree, that it is written 
without vowels, and has a great number of aspira- 
tions, which every one varies according to his pleasure. 
This arises from a want of a national prosody and of 
the means to preserve and perpetuate the primitive 
sounds; so that, far from increasing in excellence, it 
is corrupted every day by the vicious expressions 
peculiar to each tribe, and by their intercourse with 
strangers.' 

Such is Mekka; and the time can hardly be very 
distant when it must be said, such Mekka was ! Is- 
lamism has received a wound at its very core and 
centre, from which it will never recover. The fana- 
ticism of the Wahhabees has for the present saved 
the Kaaba from destruction; but some of the most 



236 ARABIA. 

attractive objects of pilgrimage no longer exist. The 
house where the Prophet was born; the house of his 
uncle Abu Taleb, where he passed part of his life; 
the chapels, or sepulchres, of Fatima, Mohammed's 
daughter, and other ' saints;' the chapel on the top 
of the mountain of light;* and other sacred places, 
no longer exist. ' The Wahhabees have abolished 
all, and the pilgrims are consequently deprived,' says 
Ali Bey, ' of the spiritual merit which they would 
have acquired by making their pious visits to these 
holy places; and the good inhabitants of the holy city 
have lost the temporal wealth which resulted from 
these acts of devotion.' 

There is, however, another principal object of pil- 
grimage which remains to be mentioned, — Mount 
Arafat, upon which Adam met his wife after a sepa- 
ration of two hundred years, and where he built the 
chapel now standing, before he left Hedjaz, and re- 
tired with Eve into the island of Ceylon. f < Several 
doctors assert,' says Ali Bey, ' that if the Beit-Allah 
ceased to exist, the pilgrimage to Mount Arafat would 
be completely meritorious, and would produce the 
same degree of satisfaction: this is my opinion like- 
wise.' 

The 17th of February was the day fixed for this pil- 

* The summit of El Djebel Nor (the mountain of light) 
is fabled to have been the spot on which Mohammed received 
the first chapter of the Koran from the hands of the angel 
Gabriel. It rises above the neighbouring mountains in the 
shape of a sugar-loaf, and was formerly ascended by steps cut 
in the mountain, till Ablul Wahhab destroyed the chapel, and 
placed a guard at the foot of the mountain to prevent its being 
visited, declaring it to be a superstitious practice! 

t See Sale's Koran, c. ii, and notes. Ali Bey says, the 
mountain was on this account named by Adam, Arafat, i. e- 
gratitude. That Adam spoke Arabic, who can disprove ? But 
other Mohammedan authorities interpret the word as signifying 
knowledge. 



ARABIA. 



257 



grimage, and at two o'clock on the preceding day, our 
Hadji left the city in his shevria, placed on a camel. 
About four o'clock, having passed through the long, 
straggling town of Mina (or Muna), he encamped on 
the eastern side. This town is composed of a single 
street, so long that it occupied twenty minutes to pass 
through it. There are several handsome houses in 
it, but the greater number are without roofs and in 
ruins. There are several stone huts, about five feet 
high, which they let to pilgrims during Easter. The 
first thing which the traveller sees on entering the 
town, is a fountain, < in front of which is an ancient 
edifice said to have been built by the devil.' The 
town lies in a valley, enclosed by bare granite moun- 
tains. Here Ali Bey was soon followed by a detach- 
ment of Wahhabees, mounted upon dromedaries, who 
encamped also before the doors of the mosque. They 
were soon joined by others, and in a short time the 
plain was covered. About sunset, Saoud himself, 
the Wahhabite sultan, arrived, and his tents were 
pitched at a short distance. The caravan from Da- 
mascus had been intercepted and turned back by the 
Wahhabees, for violating the prohibition issued by 
Saoud against bringing the mahmal;* but a caravan 
from Tripoli in Barbary, another from Yemen, a great 
number of Negro pilgrims from Soudan and Abyssinia, 
several hundred Turks from Suez, a great many Mo- 
grebins who had come by sea, Arabs from Upper and 
Lower Egypt, a caravan from Bassora, others from 
the East, and the Wahhabees, — were all now assem- 
bled in this little plain, where the pilgrims are obliged 
to encamp, because tradition relates, that Mohammed 
always encamped here in his way to Arafat. At six 
o'clock the next morning, the whole camp set out in 
a direction S. E. by E., and after traversing two valleys, 
connected by a narrow defile, arrived by nine at the 

* See p. 101. 



258 ARABIA. 

foot of the mount. Djebel Jlrafat (or El Orfat) is 
a hill of granite rock, about 150 feet high, situated at 
the foot of a higher mountain to the E. S. E., in a plain 
about three quarters of a league in diameter, enclosed 
by barren mountains. Its base is encompassed with 
a wall, and on its summit is (if not destroyed by the 
Wahhabees) a chapel, or small building covered with 
a cupola. It is ascended by steps, partly cut in the 
rock and partly composed of masonry. Ali Bey did 
not ascend the top, but, according to the ritual of the 
Maleki, recited his prayers half-way up. Near the 
mountain are fourteen large basins, or cisterns, fur- 
nishing abundance of good water, which serves the 
pilgrims both for drink and for bathing with. Accord- 
ing to the representation of the mount given by Ali 
Bey, it has very much the appearance of being an 
artificial eminence, or of having at least received its 
shape from art; and its general character forcibly 
recalls the pyramid of Cholula in Mexico. There can 
be no doubt that this pilgrimage is the relic of a 
superstition of far higher antiquity than the founda- 
tion of Mohammedism, and the origin of which is now 
lost. The manner in which it is adverted to in the 
Koran, clearly indicates that it was an observance of 
long standing. ' It is here,' says Ali Bey, ' that 
the grand spectacle of the pilgrimage of the Moslems 
must be seen, — an innumerable crowd of men from 
all nations, and of all colours, coming from the extre- 
mities of the earth, through a thousand dangers, and 
encountering fatigues of every description, to adore 
together the same God. The native of Circassia here 
presents his hand in a friendly manner to the Ethiopian 
or the Negro of Guinea; the Indian and the Persian 
embrace the inhabitant of Barbary and Morocco; all 
looking upon each other as brothers or individuals of 
the same family, united by the bands of religion, and 
the greater part speaking or understanding, more or 



ARABIA. 



259 



less, the same language, the language of Arabia * 
The ritual commands, that after having repeated the 
afternoon prayer, which we did in our tents, we 
should repair to the foot of the mountain, and wait 
there the setting of the sun. The Wahhabites, who 
were encamped^ at great distances, with a view to obey 
this precept, began to approach, having at their head 
the Sultan Saaoud, and Abounocta their second chief; 
and in a short time I saw an army of 45,000 men 
pass before me, almost all of whom were mounted upon 
camels and dromedaries, with a thousand camels car- 
rying water, tents, firewood, and dry grass for the 
camels of their chiefs. A body of 200 men on horse- 
back carried colours of different kinds, fixed upon 
lances. This cavalry, I was informed, belonged to 
Abounocta. There were also eight or ten colours 
among the camels, but without any other customary 

* < I do confess,' says Pitts, describing this remarkable 
scene, ' the number of hagges I saw at this mountain, was 
very great; nevertheless I cannot, think they could amount to 
so many as 70,000.' The belief of the Moslems is, that if any 
short of that number were assembled on this occasion, God 
would make up the deficiency by angels! ' It was a sight, in- 
deed,' he adds, < able to pierce one's heart, to behold so many 
thousands in their garments of humility and mortification, with 
their naked heads, and cheeks watered with tears, and to hear 
their grievous sighs and sobs, begging earnestly for the remission 
of their sins, promising newness of life, using a form of peni- 
tential expressions; and thus continuing for the space of four 
or five hours, viz, until the time of Aksham-nomas, which is 
to be performed about half an hour after sunset. It is matter 
of sorrowful reflection, to compare the indifference of many 
Christians with this zeal of those poor blind Mohammedans, 
who w 11, 'tis to be feared, rise up in judgment against them, 
and condemn them. After their solemn performance of their 
devotions thus at the Djibbel, they all at once receive that 
honourable title of hngge from the Emaum or Imam, and are 
so styled to their dying day, Immediately upon their receiv- 
ing this name, the trumpet is sounded, and they leave the hill, 
and return for Mekka. ' 



260 ARABIA. 

appendage. All this body of men, entirely naked, 
marched in the same order that I have formerly re- 
marked. 

1 It was impossible for me exactly to distinguish 
the Sultan and the second chief, for they were naked 
as well as the rest. However, I believe that a vene- 
rable old man, with a long white beard, who was 
preceded by the royal standard, was Saaoud. This 
standard was green, and bad, as a mark of distinc- 
tion, the profession of his faith, La illaha ila Allah, 
" There is no other god but God," embroidered upon 
it in large white characters. 

< I distinguished perfectly one of Saaoud's sons, a 
boy about seven or eight years old, with long and 
floating hair. He was brown like the rest, and dressed 
in a large white shirt. He was mounted on a superb 
white horse, upon a sort of pannel, without stirrups, 
according to their custom, for they are not acquainted 
with any other kind of saddle, and was escorted by a 
chosen troop. The pannel was covered. with a red 
cloth richly embroidered, and spangled with gold 
stars. 

c The mountain and its environs were soon covered 
with Wahhabites. The caravans and detached pil- 
grims afterwards approached it. Notwithstanding 
the remonstrances of my people, I penetrated among 
the Wahhabites to their centre, to be able to obtain a 
nearer view of the Sultan; but several of them with 
whom I conversed, assured me that this was impos- 
sible, since the apprehension of a similar death to that 
which occurred to the unfortunate Abdelaaziz, who 
was assassinated, had occasioned Saaoud to multiply 
the number of his guard. 

1 1 must allow that I discerned much reason and 
moderation among the Wahhabites to whom I spoke, 
and from whom I obtained the greater part of the 
information which I have given concerning their 
nation. However, notwithstanding this moderation, 



, ARABIA. 261 

neither the natives of the country nor the pilgrims 
could hear their name pronounced without trembling, 
and never pronounced it themselves but in murmurs. 
Thus they flee from them as much as possible, and 
shun conversation with them; in consequence of which, 
I had to encounter and overcome the different scruples 
of my people, who surrounded me whenever I wished 
to converse with any of them. 

< The sultan-shereef had sent, according to annual 
custom, a part of his troops, with four small pieces of 
artillery. It was reported even that he would come 
in person, but I did not see him. It is customary 
also, that an imaum of the shereef should come every 
year and preach a sermon upon the mountain. The 
one that came this day, was sent back by Saaoud 
before he commenced, and one of his own imaums 
preached in his stead ; but I was too far off to be able to 
hear any thing. The sermon being over, I observed 
the Wahhabites make signs of approbation; and they 
cried outrageously. 

< I could easily have found means to introduce 
myself to the Sultan Saaoud, which I very much de- 
sired, so that I might have known him perfectly ; but, 
as it would have compromised me with the sultan- 
shereef, who would have attributed this simple action 
of curiosity to some political motive, I abstained from 
effecting it. 

c We waited upon the mountain for the period of 
the sun's setting. The instant it occurred, what a 
tremendous noise ! Let us imagine an assemblage of 
80,000 men, 2,000 women, and 1,000 little children, 
60 or 70,000 camels, asses, and horses, which, at the 
commencement of night, began to move at a quick 
pace along a narrow valley, according to the ritual, 
marching one after the other, in a cloud of sand, and 
delayed by a forest of lances, guns, swords, &c; in 
short, forcing their passage as they could. Pressed 
and hurried on by those behind, we took only an 

vol. i. 24 



262 ARABIA, 

hour and a half to return to Mosdelifa, notwithstand- 
ing it had taken us more than two hours to arrive in 
the morning. The motive of this precipitation, ordered 
by the ritual, is, that the prayer of the setting sun, 
or Moagreb, ought not to be said at Arafat, but at 
Mosdelifa, at the same time as the night prayer, or 
aksha, which ought to be said at the las! moment of 
twilight, that is, an hour and a half after sunset. 
These prayers are repeated by each group or family 
privately. We hastened to see them upon our arrival, 
before we pitched our tents; and the day was termi- 
nated by mutual felicitations upon the happiness of 
our sanctification by the pilgrimage to the mount. 

' We set out the next day, Wednesday, 1 8th 
February, 10th of the month Doulhajea, and the first 
day of Easter, at five o'clock in the morning, to go to 
encamp at Mina. 

1 We alighted immediately after our arrival, and 
went precipitately to the house of the devil, which is 
facing the fountain. We had each seven small stones 
of the size of gray peas, which we had picked up 
expressly, the evening before at Mosdelifa, to throw 
against the house of the devil. Mussulmans of the 
rite of Maleki, like myself, throw them one after the 
other, pronouncing after every one these words, 
Bism illah Allafiu ak^bar; which, interpreted, are ' In 
the name of God, the very great God.' As the devil 
has had the malice to build his house in a very narrow 
place, not above thirty-four feet broad, occupied also 
in part by rocks, which it was requisite to climb to 
make sure of our aim when we threw the stones over 
the wall that surrounded it, and as the pilgrims all 
desired to perform this ceremony immediately upon 
their arrival, there was a most terrible confusion. 
However, I soon succeeded in accomplishing this holy 
duty, through the aid of my people ; but I came off 
with two wounds in my left leg. I retired afterwards 



ARABIA. 263 

to my tent, to repose myself after these fatigues. The 
Wahhabites came and threw their little stones also, 
because the Prophet used to do so. We offered up 
the Paschal sacrifice this day. 

1 I must praise the moderation and good order 
which reigned amidst this number of individuals, be- 
longing to different nations. Two thousand women 
who were among them, did not occasion the least 
disorder ; and though there were more than 40 or 
50,000 guns, there was only one let off, which hap 
pened near me. At the same instance, one of the 
chiefs ran to the man who had fired, and reprimanded 
him, saying, " Why did you do this? are we going to 
make war here ?" ' 

Mina is the place where Abraham is said to have 
gone to offer up his son Isaac, and here, therefore, 
the Moslems sacrifice their sheep. A stone or rock 
was shown to Joseph Pitts, cloven in the middle, the 
effect, as he was told, of the stroke intended by 
Abraham for his son, but which was miraculously 
warded off ! Here the pilgrims are required to 
spend the time of Kurbaen byram, viz, three days; 
although Mohammed appears to have introduced 
a relaxation of this law.* Pitts gives the follow- 
ing account of the ceremonies here practised. i As 
soon as their tents are pitched, and all things orderly 
disposed, every individual hagge, the first day, goes 
and throws seven of the small stones, which they 
had gathered, against a small pillar, or little square 
stone building : which action of theirs is intended to 
testify their defiance of the devil and his deeds ; for 
they at the same time pronounce the following words, 
viz, Erzum le Shetane wazbehe, i. e. Stone the devil 
and them that please him. And there are two other 

* ' Remember God the appointed number of days ; but if 
any haste to depart from the valley of Mina in two days 4 it 
shall be no crime in him,' — Chap. ii. 



264 ARABIA. 

of the like pillars, which are situated near one 
another *, at each of which (I mean all three), the 
second day, they throw seven stones ; and the same 
they do the third day. As I was going to perform 
this ceremony of throwing the stones, a facetious 
hagge met me; saith he, " You may save your labour 
at present, if you please, for I have hit out the devil's 
eyes already." ' 

1 You must observe, that after they have thrown 
the seven stones on the first day, (the country people 
having brought great flocks of sheep to be sold,) every 
one buys a sheep and sacrifices it ; some of which 
they give to their friends, some to the poor which come 
out of Mekka and the country adjacent, very ragged 
poor, and the rest they eat themselves ; after which, 
they shave their heads, throw off hirrawem, and put 
on other clothes, and then salute one another with a 
kiss, saying, Byram Mabarick Ela, i. e. The feast be 
a blessing to you. 

if These three days of Byram they spend festivally, 
rejoicing, with abundance of illuminations all night, 
shooting of guns, and fireworks flying in the air ; for 
they reckon that all their sins are now done away, 
and they shall, when they die, go directly to heaven, if 
they do not apostatise ; and that for the future, if 
they keep their vow and do well, God will set down 
for every good action ten ; but if they do ill, God will 
likewise reckon every evil action ten: and any person 
who, after having received the title of hagge, shall fall 
back to a vicious course of life, is esteemed to be very 
vile and infamous by them. 

( During their three days' stay at Mina, scarcely 
any hagge (unless impotent) but thinks it his duty to 
pay his visit, once at least, to the temple at Mekka : 
they scarcely cease running all the way thitherward, 
showing their vehement desire to have a fresh sight of 
the Beit-Allah; which as soon as ever they come in 
sight of, they burst into tears for joy ; and after 



ARABIA. 265 

having performed towoaf for a while, and a few 
erkaetSy they return again to Mina. And when the 
three days of Byram are expired, they all with their 
tents, &c, come back again to Mekka. 

' They say, that after the hagges are gone from 
Mina to Mekka, God doth usually send a good 
shower of rain to wash away the filth and dung 
of the sacrifices there slain; and also, that those vast 
numbers of little stones, which I told you the hagges 
throw in defiance of the devil, are all carried away by 
the angels before the year comes about again. But I 
am sure J saw vast numbers of them that were thrown 
the year before, lie upon the ground. After they 
are returned to Mekka, they can tarry there no 
longer than the- stated time, which is about ten or 
twelve days ; during which time there is a great fair 
held, where are sold all manner of East India goods, 
and abundance of fine stones for rings and bracelets, 
&c, brought from Yemen ; also, of china-ware and 
musk, and variety of other curiosities. Now is the 
time in which the hagges are busily employed in buy- 
ing, for they do not think it lawful to buy any thing 
till they have received the title of hagge. .Every 
one almost now buys a caffin, or shroud, of fine linen, 
to be buried in, (for they never use coffins for that 
purpose,) which might have been procured at Algiers, 
or their other respective homes, at a much cheaper 
rate ; but they choose to buy it here, because they 
have the advantage of dipping it in the holy water 
of Zemzem. They are very careful to carry the said 
cccffin with them wherever they travel, whether by 
sea or land, that they may be sure to be buried 
therein. 

1 The evening before they leave Mekka, every one 
must go to take their solemn leave of the Beit, en- 
tering in at the gate called Bab el Salem, i. e. wel- 
come-gate ; and having continued at towoaf as long as 

vol. i. 23* 



266 ARABIA. 

they please, which many do till they are quite tired, 
and it being the last time of their paying their devo- 
tions to it, they do it with floods of tears, as being 
extremely unwilling to part and bid farewell ; and 
having drank their fill of the water of Zemzem, they 
go to one side of the Beit, their backs being towards 
the door called by the name of Bab el Weedoh, i. e. the 
farewell door, which is opposite to the welcome-door ; 
where having performed two or three erkaets, they get 
upon their legs, and hold up their hands towards 
the Beit, making earnest petitions, and then keep 
going backward till they come to the above-said fare- 
well gate, being guided by some one or other; for they 
account it a very irreverent thing to turn their backs 
towards the Beit when they take leave of it. All the 
way as they retreat, they continue petitioning, hold- 
ing up their hands, with their eyes fixed upon the Beit, 
till they are out of sight of it ; and so go to their lodg- 
ings weeping. 7 

Ali Bey, on the 19th, did not fail to throw his 
seven stones at each of the little stone pillars erected 
by the Principle of Evil. On the day following, he 
availed himself of the Prophet's permission to return 
to Mekka. There he renewed his processions round 
the Kaaba, his draughts of the water of Zemzem, and 
his visits to Saffa and Meroua; till at length, every 
ceremony being perfectly accomplished which the 
Wahhabees tolerate, he quitted Mekka, on the 2d of 
March, for Djidda, which journey his camels accom- 
plished in twenty-three hours. From Djidda he 
sailed for Yambo, whence, in defiance of the express 
prohibition of the Sultan Saoud, he attempted, in 
company with several Turkish and Arab pilgrims, to 
reach Medinah; but when he was within fourteen 
leagues of that city, he was met by some Wahhabite 
soldiers, plundered, and sent back to the port. 
According to the description furnished by Pitts, how- 
ever, he did not lose much by being deprived of 



ARABIA. 



267 



the sight of the Prophet's tomb. The Barbary hadji 
took Medinah in their way home. Those Moham- 
medans who live to the southward of Mekka and in 
Hindostan, are not bound, it seems, to visit that 
city; but such as come from Turkey, Tartary, Egypt, 
:and Africa, consider themselves as obliged to do so. 
The route taken by the caravan to which Pitts was 
attached, was overland ; and he thus describes the 
order of march. 

* The first day we set out for Mekka, it was with- 
out any order at all, all hurly-burly ; but the next 
day every one laboured to get forward ; and in order 
to it, there was many times much quarrelling and 
fighting: but after every one had taken his place in 
the caravan, they orderly and peaceably kept the same 
place till they came to Grand Cairo. They travel 
four camels in a breast, which are all tied one after 
the other, like as in teams. The whole body is called 
a caravan, which is divided into several cotlors, or 
companies, each of which hath its name, and consists, 
it may be, of several thousand camels ; and they 
move, one cottor after another, like distinct troops. At 
the head of each cottor is some great gentleman or 
officer, who is carried in a thing like a horse-litter, 
borne by two camels, one before and the other behind, 
which is covered all over with sere-cloth, and over 
that again with green broad-cloth, and set forth very 
handsomely. If the said great person hath a wife with 
him, she is carried in another of the same. At the head 
of every cottor there goes likewise a sumpter-camel, 
which carries his treasure, &c. This camel hath two 
bells, about the bigness of our market bells, hanging 
one on each side, the sound of which may be heard a 
great way off. Some other of the camels have bells 
round about their necks, some about their legs, like 
those which our carriers put about their fore-horse -s 
neck ; which, together with the servants, (who be- 
lon* to the camels, and travel on foot) singing all 



268 



ARABIA, 



night, make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes 
away delightfully. They say, this music makes the 
camels brisk and lively. Thus they travel in good 
order every day till they come to Grand Cairo; and 
were it not for this order, you may guess what con- 
fusion would be amongst such a vast multitude. 

f They have lights by night, (which is the chief 
time of travelling, because of the exceeding heat of 
the sun by day,) which are carried on the top of high 
poles, to direct the hagges in their march. They are 
somewhat like iron stoves, into which they put short 
dry wood, which some of the camels are loaded with: 
it is carried in great sacks, which have a hole near 
the bottom, where the servants take it out as they see 
the fires need a recruit. Every cottor hath one of 
these poles belonging to it, some of which have tea, 
some twelve of these lights on their tops, or more or 
less; and they are likewise of different figures as well 
as numbers; one, perhaps, oval way, like a gate, 
another triangular, or like an N or M, &c, so that 
every one knows by them his respective cottor. They 
are carried in the front, and set up in the place where 
the caravan is to pitch, before that comes up, at some 
distance from one another. They are also carried by 
day, not lighted; but yet, by the figure and number 
of them, the hagges are directed^ to what cottor they 
belong, as soldiers are, by their colours, where to ren- 
dezvous: and, without such directions, it would be 
impossible to avoid confusion in such a vast number 
of people. 

' Every day, viz, in the morning, they pitch their 
tents, and rest several hours. When the camels are 
unloaded, the owners drive them to water, and give 
them their provender, &c, so that we had nothing to 
do with them, besides helping to load them. 

' As soon as our tents were pitched, my business 
was to make a little fire, and get a pot of coffee. 
When we had eaten some small matter, and drank the 



ARABIA, 269 

coffee, we lay down to sleep. Between eleven and 
twelve we boiled something for dinner, and, having 
dined, lay down again till about four in the after- 
noon; when the trumpet was sounded, which gave 
notice to every one to take down their tents, pack up 
their things, and load their camels, in order to proceed 
in their journey. It takes up about two hours' time 
ere they are all in their places again. At the time of 
Jlksham-nomaSj and also Gega-nomas, they make a 
halt, and perform their sallah, (so punctual are they in 
their worship,) and then they travel till next morning. 
If water be scarce, what I call an imaginary abdes 
will do. As for ancient men, it being very trouble- 
some for such to alight off the camels and get up 
again, it is lawful for them to defer these two times of 
nomas till the next day; but they will be sure to per- 
form it then. 

' As for provisions, we bring enough out of Egypt 
to suffice us till we return thither again. At Mekka, 
we compute how much will serve us for one day, and 
consequently for the forty days' journey to Egypt; 
and if we find we have more than we may well guess 
will suffice us for so long a time, we sell the overplus 
at Mekka. There is a charity maintained by the Grand 
Seignior for water to refresh the poor who travel on 
foot all the way ; for there are many such who under- 
take this journey (or pilgrimage) without any money, 
relying on the charity of the hagges for subsistence, 
knowing that they largely extend it at such a 
time. Every hagge carries his provisions, water, 
bedding, &c, with him, and usually three or four diet 
together, and sometimes discharge a poor man's 
expenses the whole journey for his attendance on 
them.' 

About the tenth easy day's journey, they entered 
the capital of the undivided khalifate. 



270 



ARABIA. 



MEDINAH # 



Is described by Pitts as ' but a little town, and poor; 
yet, it is walled round, and hath in it a great mosque, 
but nothing near so big as the temple at Mekka. In 
one corner of the mosque is built a place about four- 
teen or fifteen paces square. About this place are 
great windows fenced with brass grates. In the inside, 
it is decked with some lamps and ornaments. It is 
arched all over head. (I find some relate, that there 
are no fewer than three thousand lamps about Moham- 
med's tomb; but it is a mistake, for there are not, as 
I verily believe, a hundred: and I speak what I 
know, and have been an eye-witness of.) In the 
middle of this place is the tomb of Mohammed, where 
the corpse of that bloody impostor is laid, which hath 
silk curtains all around it like a bed; which curtains 
are not costly nor beautiful. There is nothing of his 
tomb to be seen by any, by reason of the curtains 
round it; nor are any of the hagges permitted to 
enter there : none go in but the eunuchs, who keep 
watch over it, and they only to light the lamps which 
burn there by night, and to sweep and cleanse the 
place. All the privilege the hagges have, is only to 
thrust in their hands at the windows between the 
brass grates, and to petition the dead jugglery which 
they do with a wonderful deal of reverence, affection, 
and zeal. '"J" 

' On the outside of this place, where Mohammed's 
tomb is, are some sepulchres of their reputed saints; 
among which is one prepared for Christ Jesus, when 

* Its ancient name was Yathreb. It was called Medinet 
en JVebbi, the city of the Prophet, in honour of Mohammed, 
from the period of the hejira. 

t The ridiculous story, that the coffin of Mohammed is 
suspended by the power of a loadstone, is disowned by the 
Moslems. 



ARABIA. 271 

he shall come again personally into the world; for 
they hold that Christ will come again in the flesh, 
forty years before the end of the world, to confirm the 
Mohammedan faith; and say, likewise, that our 
Saviour was not crucified in person, but in effigy, or 
one like him.' 

It is thirty-seven days' journey, according to this 
Writer, from Mekka to Cairo; ' and in all this way, 
there is scarcely any green thing to be met with, nor 
beast or fowl to be seen or heard, — nothing but sand 
stones,' excepting one place which he passed by 
night, where were some trees, and, as he thought, 
gardens. l About ten days before we got to Cairo,' 
he says, i we came to a very long, steep hill, called 
Ackaba, which the hagges are usually much afraid 
how they shall be able to get up * Those who can, 
will walk it. The poor camels, having no hoofs, find 
it very hard work, and many drop here. They were 
all untied, and we dealt gently with them, moving 
very slowly, and often halting. Before we came 
to this hill, I observed no descent; and when we 
were at the top, there was none, but all plain as 
before.' 

Medinah, though comprised within the Hedjaz, or 
i the land of pilgrimage,' is, according to Ali Bey, 
without the belled el haram, or holy land. That 
territory ' is comprehended between the Red Sea and 
an irregular line which, commencing at Arabok, 
about twenty-one leagues to the N. of Djidda, forms 
a bend from the N. E. to the S. E. in passing by Yel- 
emlem, two days' journey to the N. E. of Mekka: 
from thence it continues to Kama, about twenty-one 
leagues to the E. of the same place, and eight leagues 
westward of Tayif, which is without the holy land; 
then, turning to the W. S. W., it passes by Dzataerk, 
and terminates at Mehherma upon the coast, at the 

* See page 199. 



272 ARABIA. 

port named Almarsa Ibrahim, nearly thirty-two 
leagues S. E. of Djidda.' It appears, therefore, that 
the holy land of Islam is fifty-seven leagues in length 
and twenty-ejght in breadth. The whole of this 
tract is a real desert, containing no river, and only 
a few inconsiderable springs, no arable land, and 
scarcely a garden throughout the territory. Mekka 
and Djidda are the only towns: the other inhabited 
spots are little else than miserable villages, composed 
of barracks and tents established near a well or 
spring. Medinah and Tayif are represented as situ- 
ated c on a bountiful land, with plenty of water, and 
covered with gardens and plantations;'* and it is 
from the territory of Medinah, Ali Bey was informed, 
that the celebrated balsam of Mekka (called belsan) 
is chiefly obtained. Pitts, however, mentions no gar- 
dens at Medinah, but says, the town draws its supply 
of corn and necessaries from Abyssinia. According 
to the former Traveller, the Hedjaz is traversed by a 
double range of mountains. The loftier range of the 
two, he supposes to commence near Tayif, which 
is thirty leagues from the coast, and, bordering the 
helled el haram, to extend as far as Djehel Mohhar, 
in the neighbourhood of the islesf of Hamara. In 
these mountains water is found. Tayif, Medinah, 
Djideida, El Hamara, and Yenboa en JSTahal (or of 
the palm-trees, so called to distinguish it from Yen- 

* Tayif, Niebuhr says, < is situate upon a lofty mountain, 
in so agreeable a country, that the Arabs compare its environs 
to those of Damascus and Sanaa. This city supplies Djidda 
and Mekka with excellent fruits, particularly raisins, and car- 
ries on a considerable trade in almonds, wlijch grow in great 
plenty in its territory.' He was told, also, of « a charming 
valley,' called Wady Fatima, somewhere between Mekka 
and Medinah, which Mohammed is said to have bestowed as 
a dowry on his daughter Fatima. It occurs in the western 
hadji route, one day's journey from Mekka. 

t There are three of these islands; Omelmelek, lat. 25° 1 5 
24 '; Moard, lat. 25° 27'; and Sheikh Morgob, lat. 25° 45' 47' . 



ARABIA, 273 

boa el Bahar, or of the sea), are situated within this 
range. The second range, in which Mekka is 
situated, contains hardly any water, but is believed 
by AH Bey to be rich in minerals: it is composed of 
schistus, porphyry, and hornblende. Pitts, describing 
the appearance of Mekka, says: ( The town is sur- 
rounded for several miles with many thousands of 
little hills, which are very near one to the other. I 
have been on the top of some of them near Mekka, 
where I could see some miles about, but yet was not 
able to see the furthest of the hills. They are all 
stony rock, and blackish, and pretty near of a bigness, 
appearing at a distance like cocks of hay, but all 
pointing towards Mekka. Some of them are half 
a mile in circumference, but all nearly of one height. 
Between these hills is good and plain travelling, though 
they stand near to one another.' 

In travelling from Yenboa (or Yambo) towards 

Medinah, after traversing the barren sandy plain 

which extends to the coast, and riding for some 

leagues between low, bare mountains or hills, Ali Bey 

arrived at a valley of a singular appearance, which he 

supposes to be between sixteen and eighteen leagues 

from Yenboa. c The mountains on the south side 

are composed of loose sand, perfectly white; those 

upon the north side, of rocks of porphyry, hornstone, 

and schistus. The valley is at most 600 feet broad. 

When I saw these mountains of sand,' adds Ali Bey, 

' as high as those of the rocks, I could not forbear 

admiring the force which heaped them up, and which 

binds this accumulation of moving sand, so that the 

winds do not carry a single atom to those on the 

north. The bottom of the valley is composed of a 

variety of rocks and sand. There are several fine 

plants to be seen.* The mountains on the north, 

* The Author gathered in this neighbourhood *a superb 
species of solanum with large flowers,' 

TOL. I. 25 



274 ARABIA. 

contain a fine collection of porphyries of eveiy colour 
and grain. In the hornstone rocks, every shade of 
green may be perceived; and there is also to be found 
schistus of every species.' A few hours beyond this 
valley, the road lay between ' several groups of vol- 
canic mountains, entirely black, presenting various 
resemblances of very picturesque ruins.' The ground 
is here covered with thorny bushes. 

Djideida, through which lies the direct route to 
Medinah across the desert, is very dismally situated 
at the bottom of a valley, but has a spring of excel- 
lent water; there are also some gardens and planta- 
tions of palm-trees. The houses are low, constructed 
of stone without cement. Ali Bey calculated it to be 
about twenty-eight leagues E. S. E. of Yenboa, and 
was told that it was sixteen leagues W. of Medinah. 
The geographical position of the latter place he con- 
siders to be 2° 40' E. of Yenboa, under almost the 
same parallel of latitude.* The thermometer, in the 
desert, was 28° of Reaumur at noon in the shade. 
There is another road, which passes by Yenboa en 
Nahal, a town situated in the midst of the mountains, 
a day's journey E. N. E. of Yenboa el Bahar. It is 
said to have plenty of water, fine gardens, and a con- 
siderable number of palm-trees, from which it takes 
its name. The inhabitants are all shereefs, or de- 
scendants of the Prophet. 

In taking our departure from the belled el haram, 
the forbidden ground which none but Moslem feet 
have been for so many ages allowed to tread, one can- 
not help feeling astonishment that such a tract of 
country should have been originally fixed upon as the 
land of pilgrimage; that in its very centre should 
have been placed the metropolis of the old Arabian 

* Yenboa (Yambo), according to the observations of Ali 
Bey, is in lat. 24° T 6" N., long. 37° 32' 30" E. of Green- 
wich. 



ARABIA. 



275 



idolatry. If we suppose that Mekka owes its founda- 
tion, as is probable, to the Kaaba, the pantheon of 
the ancient pagans of the peninsula, it still remains 
as a subject of speculation, how that edifice came to 
be erected within the recesses of these barren moun- 
tains, and how Mount Saffa and Mount Meroua, and 
the valley of Mina, became consecrated by local tra- 
ditions in the remote times to which history refers 
the origin of the existing rites.* Can we suppose that 
the region always presented the same arid and sterile 
aspect which it now exhibits? If so, how shall we 
account for its being early peopled by various tribes, 
who, whether they subsisted by hunting! or led a 
pastoral life, must have required a very different sort 
of country to enable them to obtain the means of sub- 
sistence? In those remote times, the inhabitants 
could not have been indebted to the precarious sup- 
plies of foreign commerce for the necessaries of life. 
Yet, Mekka is now absolutely dependent on distant 
countries for supplies of every kind; and its sandy, 
waterless valleys seem never to have been susceptible 
of cultivation. 

It is, however, impossible, we think, to avoid the 
conclusion, that the whole country must have under- 
gone a physical transformation ; slow, perhaps, in the 
beginning, but constantly accelerating in its progress. 
Originally, the springs which abound in the loftier 
mountains, fed, perhaps, by more copious rains, might 
send their streams through the valleys which descend 
towards the Tehama or sandy belt, extending from 
the foot of the hills to the shores of the "Red Sea. 
Wherever water flowed, vegetation would clothe the 
soil; and it is far from improbable, that the palm-tree, 
which is now thinly scattered over the desert, once 
bordered the coast, and clothed the valleys, providing 

* See p. 45. 

t As Ishmael, Gen. xxi, 20; and Esau, xxv, 27; xxvii, 3. 



276 ARABIA. 

at once shade and sustenance in these burning regions. 
The small plants and flowering shrubs which Ali Bey 
found in a valley destitute of water in the way to 
Djideida, and the flower which he saw on the way to 
Arafat, afford intimations that even this barren soil 
had once its indigenous productions. The effect of 
these in imparting moisture to the atmosphere, in 
lessening the rapidity of evaporation, and in preserv- 
ing the soil from becoming pulverised, it is impossible 
to calculate. When we consider the changes which 
have been effected, within the times of authentic his- 
tory, in the Valley of Mexico and other parts of the 
New World, in consequence, chiefly, of laying bare 
the soil to the action of a tropical sun, # we shall not 
find it difficult to imagine, that even Arabia Deserta 
once exhibited a very different appearance, — that the 
gazelle, the rock-goat, and the wild ass found suste- 
nance among its hills; that the acacia, the tamarisk, 
the balsam-tree, and the palm flourished in its plains; 
and that its inhabitants pitched their tents in the 
midst of flocks and herds who wandered over a pas- 
toral wilderness. To two leading causes we may with 
probability ascribe the change,, — the devastations of 
war, laying bare the country of its vegetation and 
filling up the wells, together, perhaps, with the de- 
struction or retreat of the wild animals, — and the 
constant action of the winds blowing the sands from 
the eastern deserts, which, when unobstructed by 
vegetation, instead of forming a barrier of sand hills, 
would spread over the plains, choke up the wells and 
fountains, and aid the process by which the quartz 
and sandstone rocks are being ground down to im- 

* See Mod. Trav., Mexico, vol. i, p. 248; Colombia, p. 
178. Humboldt remarks, that wherever trees are destroyed, 
the springs are either entirely dried up, or become less abun- 
dant. 



ARABIA. 277 



palpable powder, such as loads the poisonous blasts of 

the semoum. 

Should Mekka ever be laid open to the inspection 
of enlightened Europeans, while the Kaaba is stand- 
ing, the alleged antiquity of the structure will entitle 
it to examination. There is some room for suspicion, 
whether this may be the original edifice, or a modern 
erection on the same site. The Black Stone is probably 
the same that has been kissed and adored by Moslems 
or Pagans for these three thousand years, notwith- 
standing its hejira in the ninth century, when it was 
carried°ofT by Abu Thaher. It is remarkable, that 
the Temple of Mekka and the Mosque of Omar at 
Jerusalem, has each its Bcetulion* or heavenly stone. 
That to which the latter owes both its name of El 
Sakhara and its existence, is a large, irregular, oblong 
mass of compact limestone, which occupies the centre 
of the mosque.t- This stone (hadjar el sakhara) is 
also fabled to have fallen from heaven, like the Black 
Stone of Mekka; and a ridiculous legend is attached 
to it. But it is apparently a mere clumsy imitation 
of the Arabian idol, and shows only the notions of 
those who thought that a mosque, even at Jerusalem, 
and on the site of the Temple of Solomon, required 
this miraculous block to consecrate it in the eyes 
of the Moslems! One might have supposed that the 
Mekka stone was possibly "of meteoric origin, did not 
the description of it given by Ali Bey oppose the con- 
jecture. The < abomination' which stands in the 
once holy place at Jerusalem, bears an evident affinity 
to the limestone of the adjacent mountains. 

We must now aojain spread sail to the southward, 
and, in company with Niebuhr, the learned Danish 
Traveller, descend the Arabian Gulf. 

* In the B*iti/mov of the Greeks, and the Beit-Allah of 
the Arabs, we have evidently the Beth El of the Hebrews, 
t See Mod. Trav., Palestine, p. 99. 
VOL. I. 25* 



278 ARABIA. 



FROM DJIDDA TO LOHEIA. 

The vessel in which he embarked, was c more like 
a hogshead than a ship, being only seven fathoms 
long by three in breadth, without a deck, the planks 
extremely thin, and not pitched.' The sailors, nine 
in number, besides the captain, were all black slaves 
from Africa or Malabar. The voyage was, however, 
safe and pleasant. The banks of coral are less nume- 
rous in the southern part of the gulf. Some flying 
fishes were observed, which, Niebuhr says, the Arabs 
call Djerad el bahar, sea-locusts. After seven days' 
sailing, (the captain cast anchor every night,) they 
anchored near Ghunfude, a considerable town, but 
consisting merely of huts: it belongs to the Shereefof 
Mekka, and is governed by one of his officers, who 
lives in a small isle at some distance from the city. 
It is situated in lat. 19° 7' N. Ail the ships employed 
in carrying coffee to Djidda, are obliged to anchor 
here, and pay a duty to the shereef. The next day, 
they passed within sight of Hali, a frontier town 
of the Hedjaz, where the Shereefof Mekka keeps 
a garrison.* The following day, they cast anchor 
' near a mountain called Kolembel, situated in the 
middle of the sea, and said by the Arabs to have been 
a volcano. It may possibly,' adds the learned Tra- 
veller, c be the burning island which is placed by 
Ptolemy and Arrian in these latitudes.' On the six- 
teenth day from Djidda, they anchored in the harbour 
of Loheia.f 

The town of Loheia, like several others in these 

* All the petty territories southward of Rh H li (lat. 18° 
36') are considered as forming part of Yemen. Between 
Hali and AttQed, the frontier of the Shereef of Abu Arisch, 
the country is possessed by independent tribes. 

t For the minute details of this voyage, not being of general 
interest, the reader is referred to the Voyage en Arable, torn, 
i, p. 228. 



ARABIA. 279 

parts , owes its foundation to a Mohammedan saint) 
who built a hut on the shore where the town now 
stands, which has gradually risen up round his tomb. 
In the time of Niebuhr, it had been standing for only- 
three centuries. Before then, the governor of the 
district resided at Marabea, a little port a mile to the 
north ; but the harbour of that town became filled up, 
and the place was gradually abandoned for Loheia. 
This port-, however, is a very indifferent one, even 
the smallest vessels being obliged to anchor at a dis- 
tance from the town, and, at low water, even laden 
boats cannot approach it. Notwithstanding this dis- 
advantage, a considerable trade in coffee is carried on 
here with Cairo through Djidda. Loheia is the most 
northern port in the dominions of the Imaum of 
Sanaa: it stands in lat'. 15° 42' N. Its territory is 
arid and barren. The town is without walls, but is 
defended by twelve towers, built at equal distances 
round it, and resembling those in some of the im- 
perial cities in Germany. Only one of these, how- 
ever, admits of being defended by cannon: the rest 
are so ill built as to be utterly despicable. There are 
a few houses of stone, but the greater part are mere 
mud huts thatched with grass, with a straw mat for a 
door, and rarely any windows: such huts are common 
throughout the Tehama. Lime is prepared in the 
neighbourhood by the calcination of coral. Mineral 
sallT is found in a hill within two leagues of the city. 
The water here is bad. The well which supplies the 
common people is a league distant from the town, and 
the best water, which is not good, comes from two 
leagues and a half. Niebuhr found the inhabitants 
very inquisitive, intelligent, and hospitable, and 
polished, in comparison with the Arabs nearer 
Eo-ypt. The emir, or dowlah, of the place was an 
African, entirely black, who had risen from being a 
slave, to occupy one of the highest offices in the ser- 
vice of the Imaum. He had been well educated, 



280 ARABIA. 

and discovered an upright and enlightened mind. He 
was much delighted with the present of an English 
telescope. 

In Yemen, the usual mode of travelling is on 
asses. Christians are not prohibited here, however, 
the use of horses, and the place is far pleasanter. 
JViebuhr and his companions, therefore, hired camels 
for their baggage, and horses for themselves. Tra- 
velling is as little exposed to danger in the Tehama, 
he says, as in Europe; so that there was no occasion 
to wait for a caravan in setting off to explore the in- 
terior. 

FROM LOHEIA TO BEIT EL FAKIH AND MOCHA. 

From Loheia, Niebuhr proceeded southward across 
the Tehama to the inland town of Beit el Fakih. 
The first day, he travelled through a parched and 
barren tract, along an arm of the sea, which runs 
a considerable way inland, and halted at a mokeija, or 
traveller's hut, near the village of Okem. These 
mokeijas are a sort of coffee-houses, intended to an- 
swer the purpose of inns; the accommodations are, 
however, of the humblest description, consisting of 
a long seat of straw ropes, and, for refreshment, 
coffee served out in coarse earthen cups. The pro- 
prietor generally resides in some neighbouring village, 
whence he comes every day to wait for passengers. 
At midnight, our Travellers reached the large village 
of D] die, the residence of a suh-dowlah. Throughout 
the whole country they found the water scarce and 
bad, but the villages were less distant from one 
another, than could have been expected in so barren 
a region. At the large village of Meneyre, through 
which they passed the next day, they found a man- 
sale, that is, a house in which travellers are enter- 
tained gratis for a certain number of days. On hear- 
ing of the arrival of European guests, the master of 



ARABIA. 281 

this mansale attended in person, to see that his ser- 
vants treated them properly. He caused some wheaten 
bread to be baked, which in the Tehama is rare, 
ordered some cow's milk, when he saw them nauseate 
the viscidity of the camel's milk, and was going to kill 
a sheep, had they staid longer. The Arabian servants 
gave the Travellers to understand, that any compen- 
sation for this hospitality would be ill received by 
their master; but the attendant took an opportunity, 
when unobserved, of soliciting a small gratuity for 
himself. At Dahhi, which they reached the second 
night, there is a mosque, a saint's tomb, and a 
few stone houses, and, near the village, a tannery, 
a manufactory of earthen-ware, and one of indigo. 
This place lies in the route from Loheia to Sanaa. It 
is situated in lat. 15° 13' N. The direct road to 
Beit el Fakik now passes along an arid tract with 
scarcely any water, and almost uninhabited. Nie- 
buhr preferred a longer route, nearer the mountains, 
in which he met with several small woods and a 
number of villages skirted with bushes: there are 
also many wells, from a hundred and sixty to a 
hundred and seventy feet deep, but dug in sloping 
ground. He passed, in this day's journey, two val- 
leys which, in the rainy season, are filled with water, 
Wacly Shab el Hadjar and Shab Defin. In the even- 
ing, he rested at the large village of Ghannemie, 
situated in lat. 14° 58'. The fifth day, he passed a 
village called Kataja, where there is a mansale, ano- 
ther valley called Waclij Sham, and, about half-way 
between Ghannemie and Beit el Fahih, the valley of 
El Helle, He passed the night in a wretched coffee- 
house, and early on the sixth day, reached the end of 

his journey. 

The town of Beit el Fahih (that is, the house of 
the sage) owes its origin and its name to the famous 
saint Achmed Ibn Mousa, whose sepulchre is shown 
in a pretty mosque situated on a sandy hill near the 



282 



ARABIA. 



town. Like Loheia, it has risen in consequence 
of the neighbouring port of Ghalefka becoming 
choked up. It is the residence of a dowlah, and has 
a citadel. Its situation is very favourable for trade, 
being only half a day's journey from the hills where 
the coffee is grown, four days from Mocha, about 
six from Sanaa, four and a half from Loheia, and 
one and a half from Hodeida. It is situated in 
lat. 14° 31'. The coffee-trade attracts to the place, 
merchants from Hedjaz, Egypt, Barbary, Syria, 
Persia, India, and even Europe. Here, also, as 
in all the large towns of Yemen, are found a number 
of Banians, — a singular caste ; to whom there will be 
occasion to make repeated reference. Though al- 
lowed the free exercise of their religion, they dare 
not bring their women here, nor are they permitted 
to burn their dead; as soon, therefore, as they have 
accumulated a little property, they are eager to return 
to their native country. The town, which contains 
many houses of stone, is situated in a plain far from 
fertile, but carefully cultivated: the dwellings are all 
detached, and the greater part are, like those of 
Loheia, mere huts. The place is much infested by a 
species of ant called ard, which is equally destructive 
in the house and in the garden, consuming clothes, 
fruits, and provisions of every description. Niebuhr 
copied here an ancient Kufic inscription. 

Ghalefka, distant five leagues W. S. W. from Beit 
el Fakih, and about the same distance from Zebid, 
was once a flourishing town, but is now reduced 
to about a score wretched huts, scattered among date- 
trees. The harbour is so completely filled up, that no 
vessel of the smallest burden can enter. Not only has 
the sea receded, and the coral reefs increased, but the 
winds have formed a considerable sand-hill. There is 
a spring of excellent water here, which is ascribed to 
the prayers of a certain Seid AH, the patron saint of 
the place to whom was dedicated the mosque that is 



ARABIA. 283 

now in ruins. In the burying-place were found two 
stones bearing Kufic inscriptions. The harbour of 
Hodeida, six leagues N. of Ghalefka, is somewhat 
better than that of Loheia, but large vessels cannot 
enter it. It is the residence of a dowlah, and has its 
citadel, custom-house, and patron saint, a few stone 
houses, and a great many huts. 

Zebid, before the harbour of Hodeida was choked 
up, was the principal town and most commercial 
place in all Tehama. It is situated between five and 
six leagues S. S. W. of Beit el Fakih, near the largest 
and most fertile wady in the country. This was now 
dry, but, in the rainy season, a large river flows 
through it, which, filling the canals, waters all the 
adjacent lands. 'Viewed from a distance,' says 
Niebuhr, c the town appears to some advantage, by 
means of the mosques and kubbets, of which it is full. 
Several of these mosques were erected by different 
pashas who resided here during the short period 
that this part of Arabia was in the possession of the 
Ottoman Porte. But Zebid pays dear for its exterior 
magnificence. Its inhabitants are impoverished by 
the numerous clergy belonging to those pious founda- 
tions, by whom the wealth of this place is almost 
wholly engrossed. I was told, as a matter of cer- 
tainty, that if the whole revenue of the territory be 
considered as divided into five parts, the clergy receive 
three of these; the imaum, one for the taxes; and 
the inhabitants have only one-fifth remaining for their 
maintenance. 

c The Turks have left here one useful monument 
of their power, — an aqueduct which conveyed water 
from the hills into the city. But this work has been 
so neglected, that only its ruins now remain, and the 
inhabitants are obliged to content themselves with 
water from their draw-wells, which, fortunately, is 
not bad, and in such plenty as to water many fine 



S84 ARABIA. 

gardens that are to be seen in the neighbourhood of 
the city. 

'Abulfeda ascribes eight gates to Zebid; but, of 
these, five only are now standing, and the river is 
gradually breaking down a part of them. The walls 
of the old city are demolished, and the very ruins are 
sold by poor people, who gather out the stones, and 
sell, them for building new houses. The present 
buildings occupy about one half of the ancient extent 
of the city. Zebid is still distinguished for an acade- 
my, in which the youth of Tehama, and of a part of 
Yemen, study such sciences as are cultivated among 
the Mussulmans. This is, besides, the seat of a 
dowlah, a mufti, and a kadi of the sect of ShafTei, 
and of two other kadis of the sect of Zeidi, to which 
the imaum and the greater part of his subjects profess 
to belong.' 

Much indigo is grown here ; and where the vale has 
not been encroached upon and ravaged by the torrents, 
the fields have a rich and beautiful appearance. Be- 
tween Wady Zebid and Beit el Fakih, there is an- 
other beautiful valley, in which formerly stood a con- 
siderable town called El Mahad; and which still con- 
tains some populous villages. It receives the waters 
of Mount Rema, and discharges them into the sea 
near Shurern. 

Niebuhr made an excursion from Beit el Fakih to 
Bulgosa, in the coffee-mountains, distant half a day's 
journey. The roads are very bad: neither asses nor 
mules can be used, for the hills are to be climbed only 
by steep and narrow paths. Compared with the 
parched plains of the Tehama, the scenery is delight- 
ful. The mountains are of basalt, and detached rocks, 
composed almost entirely of basaltic columns, form a 
grand and picturesque feature in the landscape. In 
some instances, cascades are seen to rush from the 

'limits, having the appearance of flowing over rows 
Hficial pillars. These columns, being easily 



ARABIA. 285 

separated, are shaped into .steps where the ascent is 
most difficult, and into terraces to support the coffee- 
plantations, which rise in the form of an amphi- 
theatre. The coffee-trees were at this period 
(March) in flower, and exhaled an exquisite per- 
fume. The air at Bulgosa is much fresher and 
cooler than in the plain, and the women have a fairer 
complexion; yet here, the Travellers had climbed 
scarcely half the ascent to Kusma, where the dowlah 
of the district dwells, upon the loftiest peak of this 
range of mountains. 

Another excursion was, from Beit elFakih to Udden 
and Djobla. The first day's journey lay in a S. S. E. 
direction across the plain, passing through several 
villages, to Robo, where there is a weekly suk or 
market, — a distance of about seven leagues. The 
next day, in about a league, they entered upon the 
mountains. Here, near the village of Meschal, the 
learned Traveller saw, for the first time in Yemen, 
running water. The channel of the river, which is 
called Wady Zehid till it enters the Tehama, is very 
broad at this place, but the stream was not above 
twenty-four feet in width: as soon as it reaches the 
burning plains, it spreads into a shallow lake, and is 
lost among the sands. At the end of eight hours and 
a quarter, they halted at Machsa, a miserable village, 
although it is the residence of a sub-dowlah, and has a 
weekly fair. The huts are still more wretched here, 
than those in the Tehama. They have no walls, con- 
sisting merely of a few poles laid together and covered 
with reeds, and are so small, that two persons lying 
on the floor, occupy almost the whole area. The in- 
habitants sit and sleep on the bare ground; and for 
bedding, these mountaineers get into a large sack, 
which keeps them warm by confining the natural 
perspiration. Coarse millet bread and,, camels' milk 
were all that these villages afforded, but the water 
every where in the mountains is delicious, 
vol, i. 26 



286 ARABIA. 

* 

The next day, they passed, by winding roads, into a 
district where the lands begin to appear more fertile 
and better cultivated, and came to a high hill called 
Nakil, which, from the glistering micaceous sand at 
its foot, is supposed by the natives to contain gold. 
They rested in a hut near a village which is inhabited 
only on a market day. The fourth day, they crossed 
several rivulets, and rejoined Wady Zebid, and in the 
evening, reached the town of Udden. This is a small 
place, containing not above 300 houses, but all solidly 
built of stone. The governor is an hereditary sheikh. 
The coffee-trees of this district are esteemed to yield 
the very best coffee of all Yemen. The country, 
which had hitherto appeared thinly peopled, now 
assumed a more populous aspect. The road from 
Udden to Djobla lies over a steep mountain, and has 
formerly been paved, but was now out of repair. < On 
this mountain,' says Niebuhr, l I saw a new instance 
of the care with which the Arabians provide for the 
accommodation of travellers. Here, for the first time, 
we found a madjil or reservoir of excellent water for 
the use of passengers. These reservoirs are of masonry, 
of a conical figure, and a vase always stands ready for 
drawing the water. Through all the fertile parts of 
Yemen, we found many of these madjils by the side 
of the highways. As storms are pretty frequent 
among these mountains, some small vaulted houses 
have been built upon that over which we passed, to 
shelter travellers when surprised by any sudden blast. 
As we advanced, we saw several villages situated in a 
cultivated tract. The sides of the hills were covered 
with rye, and had an agreeable aspect. This part of 
the country, though in other respects very fertile, pro- 
duces no coffee.' 

Djobla is the head town of a district, and the resi- 
dence of a dowlah. It stands upon the brink of a 
steep precipice, and contains about 600 houses of a 
tolerable height and appearance. Its streets are paved. 



ARABIA. 287 

an uncommon circumstance in Yemen. There are 
Jews here, who, as in all other towns where they 
reside, have a separate quarter. The town has neither 
castle nor walls, nor ancient remains. The tomb of 
a Turkish pasha at some distance, shows, however, that 
the conquests of the Ottoman have been extended over 
these mountainous regions. 

From Djobla, the learned Traveller proceeded three 
hours in a direction S. E. by S., over an undulating 
country, and slept in a large simsera (the name here 
given to a khan or karavanserai), situated two-thirds 
of the way up the southern side of a very high moun- 
tain named Mharras. The next morning, they were 
an hour in ascending a still higher summit called 
Choddra, on which are ruins of a considerable build- 
in or of hewn stone, the walls of which have been 
flanked by towers, and two reservoirs of masonry. 
The whole structure appears to be of high antiquity, 
but is in complete ruin. Mebuhr could discover no 
inscriptions. The Arabs ascribe the building of this 
castle, and of another on Mount Takel near Djobla, 
to a certain Assane Jahheli, the word Jahhel (igno- 
rant) being the term they apply to their pagan fore- 
fathers. From this elevation, there is a noble prospect 
of a considerable tract of country studded with vil- 
lages. Mount Mharras is descended by a paved road 
which winds round the steep declivity, this being the 
high road between Mocha and Sanaa. Our Traveller 
now turned to the S.S.W., and pursued the road to 
Mocha as far as Taas; he then left the great road, 
and proceeded westward, traversing the territory of 
Ibn Aid an, an independent sheikh, to the small town 
of Haas, situated in the Tehama. He crossed several 
times, towards the latter part of this journey, a con- 
siderably large and rapid river, called Wady Suradji, 
and passed through several small streams which ap- 
pear to empty themselves into one large river. Haas 
is the residence of a dowlah, who lives in a small for- 



288 



ARABIA. 



tress: its district is of narrow extent, but fertile in 
corn and dates. It is bounded on one side by Zebid, 
on the other, by Ibn Aldan. The town is small and 
ill built : a considerable quantity of coarse earthen- 
ware is manufactured there. The distance from Taas 
is about seventeen leagues. Near the confines of the 
Tehama, M. Forskal (Niebuhr's companion) disco- 
vered the shrub which produces the real balm of 
Mekka : it was in flower. The Arabs call it Abu sham, 
the sweet-smelling tree, but know of no other use for 
it than burning the wood as a perfume. On leaving 
the mountains, the heat became most oppressive. In 
the way to Zebid, the Travellers crossed, without 
wetting their feet, the river Suradji which they had 
seen so large among the hills. From Zebid, they re- 
turned to Beit el Fakih. 

After remaining here for some time to recruit their 
health, Niebuhr and his companions again set for- 
ward for Mocha. The road lay through the beautiful 
valley of the Zebid, where the peasants were busily 
employed in cultivating their fields, and raising dykes 
for the purpose of irrigation. From these fields to 
Mocha, there occur very few villages, and the whole 
intervening country is arid and sandy, but covered 
with bushes and coarse grass. Four leagues and a 
half from Zebid is the village of Sherdje, supposed to 
be the Msharjia of Abulfeda, who describes it as a 
port; but, if it was ever situated on the coast, the 
waters of the gulf must have receded very considerably 
It stands in lat. 13° 59'. On the fourth day, after a 
disagreeable and fatiguing journey, they entered the 
town of Mocha. For the description of this place 
however, we shall turn to the pages of two more 
recent travellers. 



ARABIA. 



MOCHA. 



289 



The Author of i Scenes and Impressions,' sailed 
from Bombay, in Dec. 1822, in an Arab vessel, ■< rude 
and ancient in her construction as those which, in for- 
mer and successive ages carried the rich freights of 
India for the Ptolemies, the Roman prefects, and the 
Arabian khalifs of Egypt.' At early dawn on the 
twelfth day, they made the high land of Arabia the 
Happy. 'The rising sun soon showed the savage 
coast 

1 Barren and bare; unsightly, unadorned.' 

No grass of the rock, no flower of the heath, no shrub, 
no bird, no look of life. Cape Morbat was the point we 
first made, and we coasted it thence to the Bay of Aden, 
making, in succession, the land of Fartakh, Siout, 
Bogashoua, and Maculla. Near the last spot, we did 
see a boat or two stealing along the shore; but the 
features of the coast were uniform — dark, waste, 
wild; the rocks not very lofty, black, and scorched at 
their summits; here, craggy and broken, with the 
waves dashing at their feet; there, smoother, with 
brown and arid sides, and with beds or belts of yellow 
sand below. Such is the aspect of Araby the Blest; 
and for 1,800 miles from the point we first made, 
to the shores of Midian, in the Gulf of Akaba, there 
is little, very little variety. Like the rough and 
russet coat of the Persian pomegranate, which gives 
little promise of the rich and crimson pulp within, so 
Arabia, all forbidding as she looks, can boast of 
Yemen and her sparkling springs, of her frankin- 
cense-and precious gums, her spices and cofFee-berries, 
her luscious dates, and her honey of the rock. But 
the streams which descend from those fertile regions, 
never reach the sea; they are drank up by the sands; 
and the long line of coast, excepting three or four 
vol. i. 26* 



290 



ARABIA. 



spots where the merchant and the mariner have found 
a haven, or where some pastoral tribe has dug a well, 
is but a burning solitude. 

1 For half a day, we dropped anchor in the back 
bay of Aden, but, as we were six miles from the 
town, our nakhoda did not wish us to go on shore. 
The scenery of this bay is of a very wild and savage 
character; the rocks black and ragged. It blew 
fresh too, and was cloudy, and the whole picture was 
darkly beautiful.' Cape Aden is a very lofty and 
steep rock, and is discovered between fifteen and 
twenty leagues off at sea. From the summit, on 
which are some ruined towers, you command an ex- 
tent of ten leagues inland. The road is described as 
the best in all Arabia. In the account of a Voyage to 
Arabia, performed by the French in 1708-10, edited 
by M. La Roque/ Aden is thus described : — 

£ This city is situated at the foot of high moun- 
tains, which surround it almost on every side ; accord- 
ing to Abulfeda, in long. 70°, lat. 12°. There are 
five or six forts at the top of these mountains, with 
curtains, and many other fortifications in the narrow 
passes. The water is thence conveyed by a handsome 
aqueduct, to a large reservoir about a quarter of a 
league from the city, which furnishes all the inhabit- 
ants with very good water, there being no other to be 
had at Aden ; and I know not by what authority our 
geographers make a river pass through that city. 
This place is enclosed with walls, which are now in a 
very bad condition, especially on the sea- side, where, 
however, there are some platforms at certain intervals' 
with five or six batteries of brass cannon, some of them 
carrying sixty-pound balls. It is believed that they 
are part of the artillery which Solyman II, left behind 
him upon taking the city, and conquering almost all 
the country, which the Turks have since been obliged 

* The English translation is in 12mo. London, 1726, 



ARABIA. 291 

to abandon to the Arabian princes. There is but one 
way to approach Aden on the land- side, and that is 
by a very narrow causeway, running out into the sea 
in the manner of a peninsula. The head of this 
causeway is commanded by a fort, with guards set at 
particular distances; and within a cannon-shot fur- 
ther, there is another fort of an oval figure, with 
forty pieces of great cannon, -mounted on several 
batteries, and a garrison; so that it would be impos- 
sible to attempt a descent on that side; and on the 
way of communication between the city and this 
place, there is still another fort, with twelve guns and 
a garrison. Toward the sea, by which this town 
is indeed accessible, there is a bay, eight or nine 
leagues wide at the opening, divided into two roads; 
one of which is very large, and pretty far from the 
city; the other, less and nearer, which is called the 
harbour. This latter is about a league broad, taking 
the breadth from the citadel, which commands it 
with fifty guns, to the point where the ports which 
I have been describing lie. You may anchor all 
over it, in from eighteen to twenty and twenty-two 
fathom. 

1 The city is considerably large, and one may still 
see several handsome houses two stories high, and 
flat-roofed, as also abundance of rubbish and ruins. 
It may be easily judged from what remains, and from 
so advantageous a situation, that Aden was once a 
famous city, and of great importance, a strong place, 
and the principal bulwark of Arabia Felix. The terri- 
tory around, though rather confined, is very pleasant, 
with a great deal of vegetation growing along the sides 
of the mountains. 

£ It must be owned, that nothing can be finer in 
its kind than the baths here: they are all lined with 
marble or jasper, and covered with a handsome dome, 
having a hole at the top to let in the light, adorned 
on the inside with galleries, supported by magnificent 



292 ARABIA. 

pillars. The whole building is very conveniently 
divided into chambers, closets, and other vaulted 
rooms, which all join to the principal hall, where the 
baths are covered by the dome. From hence, in our 
way to our lodging, we had to pass through the mar- 
ket-place, where we saw store of meat, fish, and other 
things that seemed to us very good in their several 
kinds.' 

Aden has been celebrated from the remotest periods 
for its commerce and its excellent harbour. In the 
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, it 
maintained an extensive intercourse with India and 
China, and was the entrepot of the riches of the East. 
But it was devastated in the wars between the Turks 
and Portuguese, and its commerce has been trans- 
ferred to Mocha.* 

£ It was a bright, a laughingly bright day,' con- 
tinues the picturesque Writer whose voyage we are 
pursuing, i when, with a fine, fair breeze, we sailed 
through the Gate of Tears (Bab al Mondoub) ; for 
so did the ancient Arabs name those narrow straits 
at the mouth of the Red Sea, regarded by their early 
navigators as so perilous, and so often, indeed, fatal 
to their inexperience, j" We had a sail in company 

* ' Aden is so much better situated for trade with Berbera, 
in consequence of both monsoons being favourable for passing 
and repassing, that the greater part of the myrrh and gum-ara- 
bic is carried to that place, where the Banians of Mocha have 
each a partner established to conduct their business. The 
frankincense is chiefly cultivated near to Cape Gardafui, and 
is exported from a harbour of the Samaulies, called Bunder 
Cassim near Djebel Feel (Cape Felix). The Samaulies, 
who inhabit the coast from the Straits to Cape Gardafui, have 
a kind of navigation-act, by which they exclude the Arab 
vessels from their ports, and bring the produce of their coun- 
try either to Aden or Mocha in their own dows.' Valen- 
tia's Travels, vol. ii, p 354. 

t The Straits, according to Lord Valentia, are not above 
three miles wide. 



ARABIA. 



293 



here, and loud and joyous was the greeting between 
the crews, as we both cast anchor in a little bay, just 
within the lesser Bab, by which we entered. From 
this anchorage, and, indeed, all the morning, while 
making for, and passing the straits, we had the 
black, lofty shore of Africa in view, with its Cape of 
Burials; — for, to the fancy of the ancient Arab, ' the 
shrill spirit of the storm sat dim' upon the rocky 
brow of Cape Guadafui, and ' enjoyed the death of 
the mariner.' 

1 We ran down upon Mocha with a full sail on the 
following morning. The town looks white and cheer- 
ful, the houses lofty, and have a square, solid appear- 
ance 5 the roadstead is almost open, being only pro- 
tected by two narrow spits of sand, on one of which 
is a round castle, and on the other an insignificant 
fort. A date-grove adjoins the city, and extends 
nearly two miles along the southern beach ; a pleasing 
object for the eye to repose upon, which is fatigued, if 
you gaze in any other direction, by one unvarying 
picture of brown and desolate sterility. 

c So far from the sea-ports of Arabia and India 
resembling each other, to the commonly observant 
eye, the contrast is striking, You have turbans and 
loose garments, but they are different both in fashion 
and materials. You have brown and black com- 
plexions; you have the clothed and the naked; but 
they differ, both in feature, form, and gesture, from 
those whom you have left behind. Under the coarse 
awnings of its narrow bazars, you meet the well- 
dressed merchants in robes of woollen cloth, and from 
above the folds of the snow white turban, you see 
a red woollen cap, with a tassel of purple silk. At 
every step, you meet the black, the half-naked Abys- 
sinian, straight as the young areca, with a nose suffi- 
ciently prominent to give expression to his features, 
and having his curled woolly hair died with a reddish 
yellow^ the foppery of his country. Then there is the 



^94 AEABIA. 

stout Arab porter, in his coarse brown garment, bow- 
ing under a heavy load of dates, the matting all 
oozing and clammy with the luscious burden. Lastly, 
you have the Bedouin, with the hue of the desert on 
his cheek, the sinewy limb, the eye dark and fiery. 
He hath a small turban, a close-bodied vest, a coarse 
sash, all of dull colours; the arm, the leg, are bare; 
the brown bosom open to the sun and wind ; sandals 
on his feet; a broad, straight, two-edged sword in his 
hand; a long and ready poinard in his girdle. For 
the cold night-wind he has a cloak of goat's hair, or 
black, or white, or made in long broad stripes of both 
colours. He walks erect, and moves directly to his 
front, giving place to none. Though every where 
surrounded by Turkish or Persian despots, nay, 
though there be towns, and imaums, and dowlahs in 
Arabia itself, he looks, and he can boast, that he 
is personally free. Ideal is the hapiness of savage 
life; but it is impossible to look, without admiring 
wonder, on men who contentedly proclaim the sandy 
plain and naked rock their patrimony, have no dwell- 
ing but the tent, no entrenchment but the sword, no 
law but the traditionary song of their bards, no 
government but the aged sheikh of their tribe. 
When I contrast this, their noble preference of a soli- 
tary and savage independence, to the life led by those 
who slumber under Turkish masters in cities, always 
polluted by crime, and often disturbed by terror, with 
much to pity in their condition, and much to condemn 
in their conduct, I find every thing to admire in their 
choice. 

' Other objects in these bazars attract your gaze. 
Long strings of camels and asses, the large coarse 
sheep of Abyssinia, the small, thin species of Arabia, 
the tall brown goats; the shops of the armourers, with 
their long, polished sword-blades, daggers, spears, 
matchlocks, and here and there the half-worn shield 
of other days; then there are the cook-shops, with 
their hot cakes of bread, and their large coppers with 



ARABIA. 



295 



portions of meat and fowls, swimming in ghee, and 
ready for the traveller; and, a step further, the cara- 
vanserais and coffee-houses, with groups of townsmen 
and traders reclining on couches of the date leaf, 
smoking their small hookahs, sipping their kishu, 
and perpetually stroking their long beards. ' 

The most full and minute description of the town 
is given by Lord Valentia, who visited it repeatedly 
during his examination of the shores of the Red Sea. 
Its appearance from the sea is, he says, tolerably 
handsome, as all the buildings are white-washed, and 
the minarets of the three mosques rise to a consider- 
able height. The uniform line of the flat-roofed 
houses is also broken by several circular domes of 
kobbas, or chapels. * On landing at a pier, which has 
been constructed for the convenience of trade, the 
effect is improved by the battlements of the walls, 
and a lofty tower on which cannon are mounted, 
which advances before the town, and is meant to pro- 
tect the sea gate. The moment, however, that the 
traveller passes the gates, these pleasing ideas are put 
to flight by the filth that abounds in every street, and 
more particularly in the open spaces which are left 
within the walls, by the gradual decay of the deserted, 
habitations which once filled them. The principal 
ouilding in the town is the residence of the dola, 
which is large and lofty, having one front to the sea, 
and another to a square, where, on a Friday, he and 
his chief officers amuse themselves in throwing the 
jerid in the manner described by Niebuhr. Another 
side of the square, which is the only regular place in 
the town, is filled up by the official residence of the 
bas kateb, or secretary of state, and an extensive 
serai, built by the Turkish pacha during the time that 
Mocha was tributary to the Grand Seignior. These 
buildings externally have no pretensions to architec- 
tural elegance, yet are by no means ugly objects, from 
their turreted tops, and fantastic ornaments in white 



296 ARABIA. 

stucco. The windows are in general small, stuck into 
the wall in an irregular manner, closed with lattices, 
and sometimes opening into a wooden, carved-work 
balcony. In the upper apartments, there is generally 
a range of circular windows above the others, rilled 
with thin strata of a transparent stone, which is found 
in veins in a mountain near Sanaa. None of these 
can be opened, and only a few of the lower ones, in 
consequence of which, a thorough air is rare in their 
houses; yet, the people of rank do not seem oppressed 
by the heat, which is frequently almost insupportable 
to a European. The floors, as well as the roofs of 
the larger houses, are made of chunam, which is sus- 
tained by beams, with pieces of plank, or thin sticks 
of wood, laid across, and close to each other. As they 
never use a level, the floors are extremely uneven; 
but this is a trifling inconvenience to people who 
never use chairs or tables, but are always reclining on 
couches, supported on every side by cushions. The 
internal construction of their houses is uniformly bad. 
The passages are long and narrow, and the staircases 
so steep, that it is frequently difficult to mount them. 
At the dola's, numerous doors are well secured on the 
landing-places, to prevent any sudden hostile attack. 
Little lime is used in any of their buildings; con- 
stant care is therefore necessary to prevent the intro- 
duction of moisture; but, with caution, they last for 
many years. If," however, a house is neglected, it 
speedily becomes a heap of rubbish; the walls return- 
ing to their original state of mud, from which they 
had been formed into bricks by the heat of the sun 
alone. The wooden materials very soon vanish in a 
country where firing is extremely scarce, so that even 
the ruins of cities which were celebrated for their 
magnificence in former times ? may now be sought for 
in vain. 

c The best houses are all facing the sea, and chiefly 
to the north of the sea gate. The British factory is 



ARABIA. ~ ot 



a large and lofty building, but has most of the incon- 
vendees of an Arab house. It is, however far 
superior to the French or Danish factories, which are 
rapidly falling to decay. The lower order of Arabs 
live in huts, Composed of wicker-work covered on the 
inside with mats, and sometimes on the outside with 
a little clay The roofs are uniformly thatched. A. 
small yard is fenced off in front of each house; but 
this is too small to admit a circulation of air. It is 
singular, that these habitations should be crowded 
close together, while a large part of the space within 
the walls is left unoccupied. _ •< _ - 

< The town of Mocha is surrounded by a wall, 
which towards the sea is not above sixteen feet high, 
though on the land-side it may, in some places, be 
thirtv In every part, it is too thin to resist a cannon- 
ball*' and the batteries along shore are unable to bear 
the 'shock of firing the cannon that are upon them. 
Two forts are erected, for the protection of the har- 
bour on two points of land which project considerably 
into 'the sea,* about a mile and a half rom each 
other An English man-of-war would level eithei to 
the ground with a single broadside There are two 
othei batteries within the town, but they are in a still 
more defenceless state. The guns on all these places 
are useless, except to return a salute The Arabs, 
when they purchased them from infidels, considered 
them as Sheitan, or belonging to the devil, and there- 
fore immediately set to work to make them holy. 1 o 
effect this, they, with the most perfect ignorance, en- 
larged the touch-hole, till nearly the whole of the gun- 
powder explodes by it, which is also the way by which it 
very frequently enters. As, however, they have never 
had occasion to use these guns hostilely, they are not 
aware of the mischief they have done. The walls on 
the land-side are a sufficient defence against the W ah- 
habees, who always storm a town by means of their 
cavalry, and the numerous round towers have a very 



VOL. I 



298 ARABIA. 

imposing effect on people who are totally ignorant 
of the use of artillery. Although under co stant 
alarm from the Wahhabees, they have neglected to 
repair the fortifications, and seem to consider the 
many small doors, nearly on the level of the ground, 
as affording no facility of entrance to an enemy. ]\ ear 
the sea gate, a part of the wall has actually fallen 
down, and has been repaired with a few boards and 
matting. The town runs, for about half a mile, in 
nearly a straight line facing the sea ; but afterwards, 
the walls take a circular direction inland. The space 
thus included is in part not built upon, and, I shduld 
suppose, does not contain a population of above 5,000 
souls. 

' The garrison, in general, consists of about 80 
horse, and 200 matchlock-men, who receive a regular 
pay of two dollars and a half per month, for which 
they provide their own arms, and powder and ball 
for exercise ; but when they quit Mocha, they are 
supplied with every thing, and have four dollars in 
advance. There is not a vestige of discipline among 
them, but they are by no means bad marksmen, though 
they are a longtime in taking aim. When on guard 
at the different gates, they recline on couches, with 
their matchlocks lying neglected by their sides, while 
the right hand is occupied in sustaining either the 
pipe, or a cup of coffee. Their matchlocks are good, 
and richly ornamented with silver. This, and their 
crooked daggar or jambea, are their chief pride; and 
it requires the most rigid economy for several years 
to enable a young Arab to provide himself with 
them. The troops attend the dola every Friday to the 
great mosque, and afterwards exercise in the front of 
his house. I was present several times to see the 
infantry fire three volleys, which they do with ball- 
cartridge, or at least ought to do, though, I suspect, 
economy induces them frequently to leave out the 
ball. Before they fire, they throw themselves into 



ARABIA. 



299 



loose disorder ; a plan which the dola strongly justi- 
fied to Mr Pringle, when he waited on him to an- 
nounce the late glorious victories of the British in the 
east. On that occasion he fairly told him, that he 
was very much surprised our soldiers ever gained a 
victory, disciplined as they were: 'Why,' said he, 
i your men are all drawn up in a row, so that any 
man may be distinguished by a person who has an 
enmity to him, and be shot immediately; whereas my 
men, by standing in disorder, and continually changing 
place, cannot be known.' The ball that they use is 
small and ill formed, so that, at the respectful dis- 
tance they keep from each other, a wound is seldom 
received. As the chief Mussulmaun inhabitants attend 
the dola on the Friday, as well as the soldiers, the 
procession is handsome, several gay streamers being 
carried by the horsemen, and, before the dola, the 
green and red flags of the Imaum: on the former of 
these is figured, in white, the double-bladed sword 
of Mohammed, which has a much greater resemblance 
to the figure of a European, with his head, feet, and 
hands cut off. The Arab dress looks well on horse- 
back, and is composed of the richest satins and kin- 
caubs of India. The flowing scarf, and the turban 
with the ends hanging low on the back, add greatly to 
the elegance of the dress.' 

The Author of Scenes and Impressions thus de- 
scribes the procession: 'The dowlah rode a beautiful 
little iron-gray, and was accompanied by about half a 
dozen persons, well dressed, and of some condition, 
and the like number of attendants, mounted on 
wretched horses, and meanly clothed. A large band 
of that regular Arab infantry which forms the gar- 
rison, followed: their costume is plain ; a common 
blue shirt, small dark turbans, a rude body-belt for 
their cartridges, and a priming-horn. They marched 
in a wide front, their matchlocks sloped upon their 
shoulders, their free hands grasping the fore-arms of 



300 ARABIA. 

their comrades, and they sang in loud chorus some 
war-song of their country. When the dowlah bridled 
up at the gateway of his residence, these men ranged 
themselves on one side of the square, their rear rank 
considerably behind their front, and fired three volleys 
in the air, retiring every time to the wall to load. 
The dowlah now indulged us with a little exhibition 
of his own horsemanship and address with the lance. 
He encountered three of his suite in succession, en- 
gaging them in a manner quiet, even to tameness. It 
is not, however, unpleasing to mark, in how very 
small a space the combatants will circle ; to see the 
lances lightly poised, with the points dropped low, 
and close to each other; to see the eye steadily fixed, 
, and, at times, the sudden turn of the steed, and lifting 
of the lance ; and to mark the feint, the ready re- 
covery, the close following up, and then the circling as 
before. 

1 The variety in their costumes, for there were not 
two robes of a colour, and the ease with which they 
seemed to move in these loose garments, now filling 
with, now flying from the wind, gave a grace and 
animation to the picture ; but one trifling circum- 
stance added to the scene, in my eye, a very peculiar 
charm. Two of the horses had frontlets, or regular 
head-armour* of polished steel. Now there can be 
little doubt that these were old hair-looms, fashioned 
long centuries ago; and without any great stretch of 
the imagination, we may suppose them to have glit- 
tered in the van of Arabian armies, and given bright 
warning of the battle hour to the Templar and the 
Hospitaller, as they looked forth from the tall battle- 
ment, reposed in the open camp, or rode " aye ready 
for the field" on the scorched plains of Palestine.' 

* Thick plates of steel covering the head in its length and 
breadth, and standing well out from the skin, to prevent a jar 
or bruise. 



ARABIA. 301 



Without the walls of the town are three extensive 
suburbs ; one occupied by common Arab labourers ; 
one by the Samaulies (Abyssinian mariners)* and 
Mohammedan traders ; and one by the Jews, who 
carry on an extensive illicit trade in a brandy distilled 
from the date-tree, which is drank by the Mussul- 
mauns in private. < The hot and haughty Mussul- 
maun stealing to the poor dwelling of the cold and 
self-denying Jew, to break his Prophet's law, and 
show himself the slave of a sin so mean, furnishes to 
the mind no common picture.' These villages are not 
more cleanly than the town ; and the gully in which 
the river of Moosa has occasionally reached the sea, is 
filled with the accumulation of filth, which, in a more 
moist country, would certainly breed a pestilence, 
though here it has no ill effect. 

< The Arabs,' says Lord Valentia, < are in gene- 
ral a healthy race of people, fevers being very un- 
usual, though severe colds are common during the 
cooler months. Ulcers are so prevalent, that it is 
rare to see a person without a mark from them, on 
the legs: this is chiefly owing to their bad treatment ; 
they only apply a piece of wax to the wound, which 
is never changed till it falls off. Cleanliness is indeed 
no quality of an Arab, either in his person or habita- 
tion. The part of the dress which is concealed, is 
rarely changed till it is worn out ; and it was a work 
of the greatest difficulty, to force the servants to keep 
even the British factory free from accumulations of 
nuisances in every part. The form is gone through 
every morning, of sweeping a path across the square 
from the dola's house to his stables ; yet, at the 

* In person these Samaulies are neither negroes nov Arabs: 
they have woolly hair, but not flat noses, well-formed limbs, a 
dark skin, beautifully white teeth, and an expression of coun- 
tenance 'neither fierce nor unpleasing.' They detest the 
Arabs. 

vol. I. 27* 



302 ARABIA. 

same time, a dunghill is formed under his windows 
by the filth thrown out from his Zenana, so extremely 
offensive as often to induce the Europeans to take a 
circuit to avoid it. 

c The Arabs when very young, have an ex- 
pressive, but mild countenance, and a pleasing eye. 
As they become men, the change is very disadvan- 
tageous : their figures are not good, and the beard is 
generally scanty; but, in advanced age, their appear- 
ance is truly venerable. The fine dark eye is then 
admirably contrasted with the long white beard, and 
the loose drapery prevents the meagre figure from 
being observed. The few women who were visible, 
had rather pretty countenances, but, in contrast to 
the males, their legs were of an astonishing thick- 
ness. 

f The food of the Arabians of inferior rank is a 
coarse grain raised in the country, juwarry, ghee, 
dates, and, on the sea-coast, fish, which is procurable 
in any quantity, with very little trouble. The higher 
orders occasionally had some mutton or beef, boiled 
to rags, and, on festivals, a little pilau. The cawa, 
made from the husk of the coffee-berry, is drank 
by most of them several times a day, and the pipe is 
rarely out of the hands of the men. At the factory, a 
very excellent table was kept by Mr Pringle. The 
beef and mutton, which are procured from the coast 
of Berbera, and particularly from Zeila, where the 
Imaum has a garrison, are excellent. Poultry is 
in great abundance, and cheap. Sweet potatoes, 
chilies, onions, and water-melons, are cultivated in 
the small gardens without the town, wherever water is 
procurable from wells.' 

' The Arabs in general seem to care very little 
about their religion. Friday is no otherwise distin- 
guished, than by the flag of the Imaum being hoisted 
on the forts, and the troops being paraded in the square, 
while the lower orders carry on their usual occupa- 



ARABIA. 303 

tions. Money will at any time induce an Arab to waive 
his prejudices. A longer residence among the Arabs 
settled in towns, has only increased the dislike and 
contempt with which I behold them. They have all 
the vices of civilised society, without having^ quitted 
those of a savage state. Scarcely possessed of a single 
good quality, they believe themselves superior to every 
other nation ; and, though inveterate cowards, they 
are cruel and revengeful. Superstitious followers of 
Mohammed, they do not obey one moral precept of 
the Koran ; and though they perform the prescribed 
ablutions with strict regularity, yet I never heard of 
a vice, natural or unnatural, which they do not prac- 
tise and avow ; and, though they pray at regulated 
times to the Deity, yet, they also address their prayers 
to more saints than are to be found in the Romish 
calendar. Hypocrisy and deceit are so natural to them, 
that they prefer telling a lie to speaking the truth, 
even when not urged to do so by any motive of inte- 
rest. To this they are trained from their youth, and 
it forms a principal part of their education. As a 
government, they are extortioners and tyrants; as 
traders, they are fraudulent and corrupt; as indi- 
viduals, they are sunk into the lowest state of igno- 
rance and debauchery; and, in short, require to be 
civilised, more than the inhabitants of the South Seas. 
The difference between this character of the Arabs, 
and that given by Mr Niebuhr, may at ■ first sight 
appear extraordinary; but the difference is more in 
appearance than reality, as it is evident that he takes 
his opinion from the reception he had met with among 
the wandering tribes. 

< I am perfectly ready to concur with him m his 
character of the wandering tribes, who, I believe, are 
less civilised and have fewer vices. The virtue of 
hospitality, so necessary in the barren deserts which 
they occupy, is completely theirs; and their bravery 
and strict sense of honour elevate them far above 



304 ARABIA. 

their countrymen who reside in cities. The Arabs have 
essentially altered their conduct towards Christians, 
who may now walk about the streets of their towns 
without being liable to insult. The different events 
which have taken place in India, and have so con- 
spicuously elevated the Cross above the Crescent, have 
struck a panic to the heart of the Mussulmaun through- 
out the East. It cannot be supposed that he beholds 
the change without repining; but it has forced upon 
his mind a conviction of the superior power of the 
Christian, whom he hates as he ever did, but now 
fears instead of despising. A disgraceful prohibition 
ought to be removed: a Christian is not permitted to 
go out at the Mekka gate, although the Jews and 
Banians are. This is the more singular, as the 
latter two classes are considered by the Mussulmauns 
as inferior to the former. ' 

The Jew is looked upon with an evil eye at Mocha: 
i the Arab may spit upon and strike them, and they 
are not allowed to wear a turban.' Many of them 
gain a livelihood by working as goldsmiths and jewel- 
lers. They have a synagogue, built of mud, small 
and mean, in which a little cluster of this every- where 
oppressed and shrinking race, the remnant of Judah, 
still listen to their law, and keep up the worship of 
their fathers. 

The government of Mocha is one of the best in the 
gift of the Imaum, owing to the large sums which 
the dowlah is able to squeeze from the Banians and 
foreign traders. l Formerly,' says Lord Valentia, 
1 an Arab of high rank was appointed to this office; 
but now that the authority of the sovereign is 
greatly weakened, it has been considered as more 
prudent to give the situation to a slave,* who can 

* ' Nothing is more striking in the character of slavery 
among the Arabs, Turks, and other Asiastics, than that it is a 
very common road to places of trust, dignity, and power. How 
very different might be the fortunes of two African boys, torn 



ARABIA. 30^ 



always be removed, and from whom it is more safe to 
take'the profits of his government. The shereef of 
Abou Arish is an instance of the danger of appointing 
an Arab of the Prophet's family, who are, in fact, 
an hereditary nobility, that still consider themselves 
as entitled to all power among the Mussulmauns. He 
was appointed to Loheia by the present Imaum, and 
no sooner reached his government, than he prepared 
to rebel, and, with very little difficulty, resisted all 
attempts to drive him out. He has now become a 
Wahhabee, and has perfectly secured his indepen- 
dence.' The dowlah of Mocha in 1823, was an Abys- 
sinian black, who had been a slave in the familyof 
the Imaum, and had risen by his good conduct. He 
is described as c not at all striking in his figure and 
appearance, quiet and civil to the Europeans, and not 
oppressive to the people.' Lord Valentia, however, 
styles him avaricious and tyrannical, and ascribes to 
him the invention of ' a new method of extorting 
money from the Banians, by confining them in a 
room, and fumigating them with sulphur till they 
complied with his demands.' The second officer in 
the town is the bas kateb, or secretary of state, who 
is always an Arab, and is considered as a licensed spy 
over the dowlah. The third is the kadi, or judge; 
and these three compose the divan, in which the 
dowlah has only a vote. The kadi, at this time, was 
an upright and respectable man; and under his vigi- 
lant administration the police was strict, and the town 
peaceable and orderly. Any person found out of his 
house after the drums had announced the dowlah s 
retiring to rest, would be apprehended and imprisoned. 
The climate of Mocha is extremely sultry * owing 
to its vicinity to the arid sands of Africa, ' over which 

from the same savannah, and sold, one to the British colonies 
in the West, and the other marched across the desert to the 
slave-marts of the East!' — Scenes and Impressions, p. 30. 
* From 90° to 95° Fahr. in July. 



306 ARABIA. 

the S. E. wind blows for so long a continuance, as not 
to be cooled in its short passage over the sea below the 
Straits of Babel Mandel. This monsoon,' the noble 
Traveller further remarks, * continues above eight 
months in the year with such force, as frequently to ren- 
der all communication between the vessels in the road 
and the shore impossible. For the three or four months 
that the opposite monsoon from the N. W. blows, the 
heat is much greater, and the airs are light. These 
winds extend only to Jibbel Teir; from which place 
to above Djidda, they may be considered as variable 
for the whole year, though the prevailing one is gene- 
rally from the same point in which the monsoon blows 
in the lower part of the gulf. Above Cosseir, an ex- 
traordinary change takes place; from thence to Suez, 
the wind blows for rather more than eight months from 
the N. W. At Mocha, during the prevalence of the 
S. E. wind, a thick haze covers the opposite coast; 
but the moment the north-wester commences, the 
opposite mountains and islands gradually appear. 
The high land of Assab is visible from Mocha, 
although its distance was ascertained to be seventy 
miles, by a set of cross bearings taken from the 
island of Perim. This proves ihat there is a great 
degree of refraction in the atmosphere, of which in- 
deed we had still more positive proof, by the appear- 
ance of several other headlands at the same time, and 
which we knew were much too low to be seen directly 
at the distance they actually were. A very singular 
phenomenon also occurred, which has been taken 
notice of by the ancients; — the sun set like a pillar of 
fire, having totally lost its usual round form — a 
splended testimony in favour of Agatharchides, who 
says, the sun rose like a pillar of fire. 

' The country in the vicinity of Mocha is more 
dreary than can well be conceived; to the foot of the 
mountains it is an arid sand, covered with a saline 
efflorescence, and producing in abundance the common 



ARABIA. 307 

mimosa, and a species of salicornia, whose embrowned 
leaves and burnt appearance give little idea of vege- 
tation. Near the town the date-trees are in profusion; 
but their stunted growth shows the difference between 
the soil of Arabia and the fertile plains of India. 
E /en where a brackish well has given an opportunity 
of raising a few vegetables, the scene is still cheerless, 
from the fence of dried reeds, which is alone visible. 
Mr Salt, by the permission of the dola, paid a visit 
to Moosa, and intended to have gone on to Beit-el- 
Fakih, but was recalled in consequence of the disputes 
running high respecting the renegadoes. He de- 
scribes the country, even there, as uninteresting, though 
the mountains were fine, and there were fields of 
grain, and other appearances of cultivation. This 
is owing to the river, which rises in the hills, and at 
one season is full of water, though it in general 
loses itself in the Tehama, without reaching the sea. 
Once, indeed, it found its way to Mocha, where it 
carried away a considerable part of the Jews' town, 
which is built in its usually unfrequented bed.. Had 
Mocha not existed, and had a vessel by accident 
approached the coast at that time, the mariners might 
justly have reported, that a river of fresh water there 
emptied itself into the sea. Future navigators would 
have positively contradicted them; and they would 
have been accused as liars without having merited 
the title. I think it probable, that the accounts of 
the river Charles, above Djidda, and the river Frat 
opposite to it, have originated in a similar circum- 
stance. 

i Mocha, according to some learned natives, was 
not in existence four hundred years ago; from which 
period we know nothing of it, till the discoveries and 
conquests of the Portuguese in India opened the Red 
Sea to the natives of Europe. The first entered it 
in 1513, under Don Alphonso Albuquerque, with 
an intention of uniting themselves to the Abyssinians 
against their common enemy the Mussulmauns, but 



303 ARABIA. 

returned without having reaped any advantage. In 
1538, Soolimaun Basha, commanding the fleet of 
the Soldan of Egypt, stopped at Mocha, on his return 
from his disgraceful expedition against Diu. It is 
only mentioned in his voyage as a castle, and was, 
therefore, probably a place of little importance, and 
had a Turk for its governor. In 1609, when the 
Red Sea was first visited by the English, under 
Alexander Sharpey, Mocha had greatly risen in 
importance, and had become the great mart for the 
trade between India and Egypt. The Turkish go- 
vernor was, at this time, a man of prudence and 
liberality, so that the English traded without any 
injury; but his successor, in the following year, had 
very different ideas, as Sir Henry Middleton expe- 
rienced to his cost, who was betrayed, and kept a 
prisoner for- some time. These circumstances were 
too inimical to trade to admit of its continuance, 
and there was only a Dutch factory at Mocha, when 
Monsieur de la Merveille visited it in 1708, and 
established a factory for his countrymen. Between 
that period and 1733, the English must have arrived, 
as, according to Niebuhr, they were there when the 
French bombarded the town, and obliged the dola 
to pay his debts, and reduce the duties from three 
to two and a half per cent. Mocha was probably 
then at its highest state of prosperity, when the 
English, the French, and the Dutch, carried on a 
regular trade with it, and by means of the navigation 
round the Cape of Good Hope, the expense of 
the freight of coffee was much lessened, and the con- 
sumption of it in Europe began proportionably to in- 
crease. 

c Coffee is the only article of trade produced in 
Arabia, and formerly the whole of this was carried 
from Loheia, by dows, to Djidda, and thence, either 
by the caravan of pilgrims to Constantinople, or in 
large Turkish vessels by sea to Suez, and across 



ARABIA. 309 



Egypt to Alexandria; whence it found its way to 
every part of Europe. As early, however, as the 
beginning of the last century, the large European 
vessels began to carry the coffee round the Cape of 
Good Hope, which so much reduced the duties in 
Egypt, that the Porte sent an embassy to Sanaa to 
complain of this new system of trade, and to request 
that no coffee might be exported except through 
Egypt. The average quantity that annually went 
up to Djidda was about sixteen thousand bales, till 
the year 1 803, when a single American ship appeared, 
and, by the great profit of her voyage, induced so 
many others to follow her example, that the quantity 
sent to Egypt was reduced nearly one half.' 

Independently of coffee, the export trade of Mocha 
is very considerable in gum-arabic, myrrh, and frank- 
incense. These are imported from the Abyssinian 
coast, chiefly from Berbera, from which Arabia draws 
her supplies of ghee, and a great number of slaves, 
camels, horses, mules, and asses. The riches of 
Yemen, however, may be considered as solely owing 
to its coffee, from the sale of which its merchants 
receive the dollars in Egypt, with which they pur- 
chase the manufactures and species of India. Of late 
years, the Muscat traders, and French vessels under 
the Muscat flag, have considerably injured the trade. 
Arabia itself consumes only a small proportion of 
its imports: the residue, after paying a duty of 
three per cent on the import, and seven per cent 
on the export, is sent by dows to Massowah, Djidda, 
and Aden, for the fair of Berbera. Yemen has pro- 
bably reached its greatest prosperity, and may indeed 
be considered as on the decline. The coffee country 
is gradually falling into the hands of the Shereef of 
Abou Arish, who has become a follower of Abdul 
Waheb, and has opened the port of Loheia for the 
exportation of coffee. The Sultaun of Aden also 
procures a small quantity, and will probably increase 

tol. i. 28 



310 ARABIA* 

his territories at the expense of the Iraaum. His 
port is so far superior to any other in Arabia, that 
I cannot but believe it will soon become the mart 
for all that is exported, except to Suez. The rise 
of Mocha has been owing to accidental circumstances 
which now no longer operate, and its trade will 
probably remove to Loheia and Aden.' ' I do 
not know whether it be of much consequence, as 
Yemen is changing masters, that the Americans are 
spoiling the road of Mocha by throwing over their bal- 
last. The evil has already become great, for there is 
now no clear spot, under four fathom, and at a great 
distance from the shore. In another season, not a ship 
will be able to anchor in safety.' 

Mocha stands in lat. 13° 20' N., long. 43° 20' E. 
The population, which Lord Valentia estimates at 
5000, amounted, at the beginning of the last century, 
according to the French voyager, to double that 
number, although not so large a city, he says, as Aden. 
About five hours from this town, in the road to Taas, 
is the village of Moosa,* ' well known to Europeans, 
who sometimes come here,' Niebuhr says, c on parties 
of pleasure.' It is situated just on the confines of 
the highlands, and is the residence of a sub-dowlah. 
The buildings are wretched, and the heat is as op- 
pressive as at Mocha; but the water is good, and the 
richer inhabitants of that town send hither for it. 
In this country, it is worth a four hours 1 ride to taste 
such a luxury fresh from the spring. The French 
Traveller, to whom reference has been made, styles 
Moosa (which he makes to be about ten leagues from 
Mocha,) ' a small, pleasant country town.' < They 
at Mocha,' he adds, ' are supplied with almost all their 

* « As it is to be presumed,' says Niebuhr, ' that the waters of 
the Arabian Gulf have retired in this place, as elsewhere, there 
is reason to suppose, that we should here look for the port of 
Muza, mentioned by the Greek geographers, as well as by 
Moses, Gen. x, 30.' Our Version has Mesha. 



ARABIA. 



311 



fowls from hence; and hither is brought down all the 
fruit from the neighbouring mountains, in the way 
to other parts.' The houses here, as in the suburbs 
of Mocha, are, for the most part, circular huts, with 
walls of a tolerable height, and a conical or rounded 
top; they are built of a matting or thatch of the 
strong leaves of the date-palm, and have a neat, 
compact, and, when new, very pretty appearance. 
There are a few stone buildings* 



FROM MOCHA TO SANAA. 

The road to Taas lies, for some way, along the 
channel of the large river above alluded to, as dis- 
emboguing, in the rainy season, into the sea, but 
which is "commonly lost, at no great distance from 
its head, in the sands of Tehama. On entering the 
hilly country, the roads are too bad for travelling 
by night. About forty miles from Mocha is the 
town of Dorebat, the capital of the territory of 
Ibn Aklan, seated on the summit of a mountain. 
At the foot of the hill, near the road, is the place 
where the suk or market is held. Here are a few 
houses, and a prison excavated in the rock, which 
has the name of being the most dreadful in all Yemen, — 
a sort of black hole, like that at Calcutta, into which 
neither the light of day nor the free air can pene- 
trate. In front of this hole is the common prison, 
where Niebuhr saw a number of persons, who had 
been confined there for slight offences, seated before 
the open door, fastened together by a long chain. 
Early on the following day, (the fifth from Mocha) 
Niebuhr entered Taas.t 

* See plate. 

t Speaking of this place under the name of lage, the 
French Traveller says: ' This city is of great note in that coun- 



312 ARABIA. 

This city, which has already been mentioned as 
occurring on the road from Djobla to Zebid, is situated 
at the foot of the fertile mountain of Sabber, on ijs 
northern side, in lat. 13° 34' N. It is surrounded 
with a wall from sixteen to thirty feet thick, and is 
flanked by several small towers. But the whole has 
only- an exterior coating of bricks, and the interior is 
composed of mud. Within the walls rises a steep 
rock about 400 feet high, on which is built the cita- 
del. The town has now but two gates, Bab Sheikh 
Mousa and Bab el Kebir, both constructed after the 
Arabian fashion, with three towers. There was a 
garrison of 600 men; but the place is not strong, 
being commanded by the neighbouring heights. 
There are several deserted and ruined mosques, evi- 
dently the work of Turkish architects. The principal 
mosque, c the cathedral of Taas,' as Niebuhr styles 
it, is that of lsmael Miilk (or Melek) : under it are 
subterranean vaults, which serve as a powder-maga- 
zine. This royal saint, who is the patron of the city, 
is said to have been at one time king of the country, 
and his memory is famous among the Sunnites of 
Yemen; but no one is now permitted to approach his 
tomb, which has been walled round ever since the 
dead king thought proper to perform a very incon- 
venient miracle. Two beggars, it is said, asked alms 
of the dowlah of Taas, but one of them only obtained 
relief; on which, the other repaired to the tomb of 
lsmael Miilk, to implore the saint's aid. lsmael, who 
in his life time had been very charitable, stretched 
his hand out of the tomb, and gave the beggar a 

try, large, and enclosed with handsome walls, which, they say, 
were built by the Turks, with a strong castle on a mountain 
commanding the town, which may be seen six leagues off*. 
It has thirty large brass ordnance, and is generally th^.-prison 
for state criminals.' 



ARABIA. 



313 



written order on the dowlah for one hundred crowns. 
Upon examining this order with the greatest care, it 
was found to be in the undoubted hand-writing of the 
late king, and sealed with his own seal. The dowlah 
could not, therefore, refuse to honour the draft, but, 
to avoid all subsequent trouble from such bills of ex- 
change, he shut up the tomb. Near this mosque is a 
garden, said to have belonged to Ischia, the son of 
this king Ismiiel, in which there is a large basin of 
water, together with some hydraulic works, which 
must have been highly ornamental; but all is now in 
a state of dilapidation. To the east of the city there 
is a magnificent mosque with two minarets, which 
have suffered in a siege; and on an eminence near it 
is another edifice not less -superb, erected over the 
tomb of a personage named Afdal, supposed to have 
been a pasha of Taas. To the west of the city, out- 
side of the wall, is the mosque of the celebrated saint 
Sheikh Moosa. There are remains of several palaces 
built by the lords of Taas. Since the last war, how- 
ever, the town has been much injured, and part of it 
has been converted into fields. In the neighbour- 
hood, there are remains of two ancient towns. One 
of these, called Oddena, situated on the summit of 
Mount Sabber, and supposed to have been the dis- 
trict capital before the tomb of Ismael Miilk, at the 
foot of Mount Kabhr, drew round it the modern 
town.* The other is called Thobad, and is situated 
about half a mile from Taas, near Mount Sabber. 
Some parts of the wall and a very spacious mosque 
still remain. Mount Sabber is said to abound with a 
rich variety of plants, promising an ample field to the 
botanist, but Mebuhr and his companions were not 

* Loljeia, Beit el Fakih, and Mocha, owe their foundation, 
in like manner, to their respective saints", round whose tombs, 
they have risen. 

yoi,, i. 28* 



314 ' ARABIA, 

permitted to explore it. The surrounding country 
was found almost depopulated, in consequence of the 
recent civil wars and the exactions of the dowlah of 
Taas, who appears to have been a despicable petty 
tyrant. 

Leaving Taas, Niebuhr reached, on the third day, 
Mount Mharras, beyond which he entered on the 
more fertile territory of Sheban. The next day, he 
reached Abb, a walled town on the summit of a 
mountain, containing several small mosques (two 
with minarets), and about 800 houses, most of them 
in a tolerable style of building. The streets are 
paved, and the town is supplied with water by an 
aqueduct. At a short distance, between Abb and 
Djobla, are two rivulets, one of which, running west- 
ward, falls into- Wady Zebid] the other, running 
southward, takes the name of Meidam, and, in the 
rainy season, finds its way into the sea in the terri- 
tory of Aden. The different course of these rivers/ 
two of the most considerable in the country, seems to 
indicate that this is one of the most elevated spots in 
these mountainous regions. Descending Mount Abb 
by a good paved road, Niebuhr entered on an undu- 
lating country, having villages and madjils scattered 
over it. No remarkable place was seen, however, ex- 
cept Mechader, a small town on the side of a hill 
crowned with a castle, the residence of a dowlah. 
The sixth's day's journey led over Mount Sumara, 
which is much higher than Mount Mharras, and so 
steep that it would be impassable for camels, were it 
not for a paved road which winds up the most difficult 
part of the acclivity. Half way up is the village of 
Mensil, where is a superb simsera, built of hewn 
stone; lat. 14° 10' N. On the very peak of this de- 
sert mountain stands a ruined castle. The tempera- 
ture here was found very keen, and Niebuhr suffered 
extremely from excessive thirst, and a: cold caught by 
being too lightly clad. Between three -and four 



ARABIA. 



315 



leagues from Mensil is Jerim (Yerim), a small town, 
the residence of a dowlah, who resides in the castle, 
which crowns a steep rock in the middle of the place. 
It is situated in lat. 14° 17'. At two miles' distance 
S. W. from Jerim, once stood, according to the tradi- 
tion of the natives, the famous city of Dhafar, sup- 
posed by Niebuhr to be the site of Taphar, or Tephra, 
an ancient residence of the Hamyarite monarchs .* 
The Arabs say, that Dhafar was the capital of a 
celebrated conqueror who reigned over the whole 
peninsula, named Saoud el Kammel, and that the 
city was destroyed by the Abyssinians.j The Abys- 
sinian invasion took place in the beginning of the sixth 
century. Very few traces of the city are said to re- 
main; but Niebuhr was told, that a large stone still 
exists, with an inscription, which neither Jews nor 
Mohammedans were able to read. If any Haury arine 
inscription shall ever be discovered, he remarks, it will 
probably be found among these ruins, which deserve 
to be investigated. 

On the eastern side of Mount Sumara, the season 

had been so dry, (although it rained almost every day 

on the western side,) that the locusts had multiplied 

prodigiously. In a plain near Jerim, they might be 

taken by handfuls. Niebuhr saw a peasant with a 

sack full of them, which he was going to dry and lay 

up for winter provisions. In all the markets, they 

were sold at a very low price, in consequence of the 

excessive supply. He had seen the peasants of Mensil 

pursuing these insects, in order to preserve their fields 

from absolute desolation; but here, it would have 

been useless. At length a hail-storm followed by 

heavy showers, thinned their numbers, and put their 

legions to flight. In the market at Jerim, Niebuhr 

saw many tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and other 

* See p. 49.* 

t Probably Assaeid ul Tobba is referred to. See page 36. 



316 ARABIA. 

artisans, seated behind low walls, and working at 
their craft in the open air. He saw also ' surgeons, 
who drew blood with a common knife, and dressed 
the wound with pieces of hartshorn.' He was one 
day entertained by two gladiators, who for a few 
pieces of small money, performed their feats in the 
streets. They wore masks, the first our Traveller 
had seen in the East, and were armed with a buckler 
and poinard. The perfection of their art consisted 
in leaping to the sound of a tambour, and in agile 
turns of the body. 

At Jerim, the learned Traveller lost his friend and 
companion, M. Forskal, who sank under the illness 
produced by the fatigue of the journey and the effects 
of the climate. After performing the last sad rites, at 
midnight, and committing his remains to the plot of 
ground purchased for that purpose,* Niebubr and his 
surviving companions set out for Sanaa. The route 
lay along rugged roads and through a barren country, 
to Damar, a distance of six hours. This is a con- 
siderable town, the seat of a dowlah, who resides in a 
large castle. It stands in a fertile plain, is without 
walls, but contains no fewer than 5,000 houses, tole- 
rably well built. The Jews live in a detached suburb 5 
but the Banians are permitted to live among the 
Mussulmans. Here the Zeidites have a famous col- 
lege, in which about five hundred young students are 
taught to read the Koran. To the E. of Damar is a 

*« * They had great difficulty in bribing six men to carry the 
corpse; so great is the aversion of these people to touch a 
Christian. Imprudently, they resolved to bury their deceased 
friend in a coffin, instead of following the Arabian mode, and 
wrapping the body simply in a sere-cloth. The consequence 
was, that after their departure, the coffin was broken open at 
night, on the suspicion of containing treasure, which, it was 
supposed, it might be the custom of Europeans to bury with 
their dead, and the grave-clothes were stolen. Ihe dowlah 
obliged the Jews to re-inter the body, leaving them their cof- 
fin fpr their pains, 



ARABIA. 



317 



mountain, Djebel Kiboud, containing a mine of sul- 
phur; and in another hill, called Eirran, to the N. W. 
of the town, are found the fine cornelians so much 
esteemed in Arabia, called by the natives aldb. A 
small stream, at a short distance from Damar, flows 
northward, and loses itself, in the sand in the country 
of Djof. • Niebuhr supposes that it may be one of the 
rivers which supplied the grand reservoir of Mareb * 
Within a league of Damar is the small city of Mouab, 
or Mawahhib, formerly the usual residence of the 
imaum. It was here that the monarch held his court, 
whom the Author of the voyage published by M. La 
Roque visited in the beginning of the last century.'* 
He thus describes the place : — 

' It is situated on the south side of a low moun- 
tain, and was , built by the present king ; and at 
the same distance of a quarter of a league, this prince 
has built a castle on a mountain higher than that on 

* See p. 27. 

t The French deputation left Mocha on the 14th February, 
1712, at four o'clock, P. M., and proceeded the first night to 
Moosa, which they reckon a distance of ten leagues; the se- 
cond day, fifteen leagues to a small village called Manzery ; 
the third day, to the city of Tage (Taas) , < a journey of eight- 
een leagues through a fine even road ;' the fourth, six leagues 
to Manzuel, where are ' two castles of great antiquity, in one 
of which their kings used formerly to reside in the time of then- 
wars with the Turks.' ' From Manzuel, they undertook to go 
in two days to Yrame, at the distance of thirty leagues, pass- 
ing through Gabala, a small city walled on one side only ; its 
mosques being beautified with handsome towers or minarets: a j|p 
son of the present king has the government of it.' This is evi- 
dently the Abb of Niebuhr, as Yrame is Jerim, or Yenm. From 
Yerim, they proceeded fifteen leagues to Damar. Here,they say, 
■ almost all the fatigue is over, and you now breathe again, for 
the country begins to open and extend itself into agreeable 
plains ; and but a quarter of a league from Damar, is the city 
of Mouab. Thus, our deputies, by marching almost day and 
night, and often changing horses, arrived at length at Mouab 
on the eighth day, having gone above six-score miles in rough, 
troublesome ways, for the most part through mountains,' 



318 ARABIA. 

which the city stands, to which he hath likewise 
given the name of Mouab, and which is a sort of 
country-seat, whither the king often retires for his 
diversion : so that Damar, Mouab, and the castle 
of the same name, make a triangle, and are equally 
distant from each other. Two leagues and a half 
from Mouab, the king hath also built a citadel on 
a hill, where he keeps a garrison of his best soldiers, 
with a numerous artillery. Hither he retires when he 
is at war with the princes his neighbours, or when 
he fears the approach of an enemy whom he is not 

strong enough to oppose The city is remarkable 

for nothing but its being the residence of the king ; 
for it is not large, and the walls are built of earth, as 
are most part of the houses. One of the suburbs is 
entirely taken up by the Jews, who are obliged to re- 
turn thither every evening, not being permitted to lie in 
the city. The palace consists of two large wings, 
three stories high. The air at Mouab is very healthy, 
cool in the morning before sun-rise, and in the evening 
after sunset, but from nine to four excessively hot. 
The soil appeared in general good, all the plain being 
sowed with wheat and rice, and the hills and valleys 
planted with coffee-trees, many vines, and several 
sorts of fruit.' 

The reigning monarch at this time is stated to have 
been a Turk by nation : he was an old man, eighty- 
seven years of age, of a complexion inclining to 
tawny, and an agreeable aspect. In his dress, he 
maintained the greatest simplicity, never wearing any 
other habit than a fine cloth of either a green or 
a yellow colour, without any ornament ; and the only 
mark of distinction was a kind of veil of white silk 
fastened to his turban, which, covering his head and 
falling down before, was tied under his chin, ' like 
our women's silk hoods.' i It is not easy to con- 
ceive,' adds the writer, c why this prince, having 
founded a new city, with a palace to reside in, not to 



ARABIA. 319 

mention the castle not far from it, hath not built 
so much as one mosque, so that he is obliged to pray 
in the open field (under a pavilion or tent). This is 
a mystery our deputies were not able to dive into, and 
which proceeds, perhaps, from the great distrust of 
this Arabian prince, who, not satisfied with having 
secured himself behind a long chain of mountains, 
dares not venture his person in a temple, where 
he might possibly be surprised by his enemies, or be- 
trayed by his subjects. Nor is this without example, 
since the famous AM, the son-in-law of Mohammed, 
was assassinated in a mosque on a day of public devo- 
tion among the Mussulmauns,' 

From Damar, the route becomes very rugged, and 
the country is marshy and uncultivated as far as Suradje, 
a distance of between six and seven leagues. The 
road thence lies for an howr over a mountain to Audi, 
a frontier village of the territory of Suradje, which 
here borders on the little province of Khaulan. At a 
short distance from this place is a village named Hod- 
dafa, seated on a steep, insulated rock, where is said 
to be a curious inscription on an old wall, resembling 
neither the Arabic nor the Hebrew, and which Nie- 
buhr suspects to be Hamyarine. After passing 
through several paltry villages, they reached Seijan, 
which, together with Suradje, belongs to the i princes 
of the blood ;' then, having crossed a mountain on 
which is situated the village of Rema, they passed, 
within a league and a half of Sanaa, a small river, 
over which is a stone bridge, — a rare thing in Arabia. 
The stream is lost, however, not far below, in the 
sand. On the 16th of July, the fourth day from 
Jerim, thev entered the suburb of Bir el JLssab. 

SANAA. 

The city of Sanaa, which may be considered as at 
present the capital of Yemen, is situated at th$ foot 



320 ARABIA. 

of a mountain called Nikkum (or Lokkum), on the 
summit of which are the ruins of an ancient castle, 
which the Arabs believe to have been erected by the 
patriarch Shem. It stands in iat. 15° 21'. A modern 
castle has been built on a hill called Chomdan, on the 
side of Bjebel Nikkum, enclosing two palaces, called 
Bar ed Bahhab, and Bar Jhner. There are some 
ruins here of old buildings ; but, notwithstanding the 
antiquity of the place, no inscription, either Kufic 
or Hamyarine. An old German mortar unexpect- 
edly presented itself, bearing this inscription : Jorg 
Selos Gosmich, 1513. On the same battery were 
seen seven iron cannons, partly buried in the sand, 
and partly mounted upon broken carriages; and these, 
with six others near the gates, which are fired on 
festival days, were all the artillery of the capital of 
Yemen. In the castle is the mint, together with a 
range of prisons for persons of different ranks. Several 
princes of the blood reside in the castle, but the imaum 
resides in the city. 

Sanaa has, from its size, the appearance of heing 
more populous than it really is, for gardens occupy a 
part of the space within the walls. It has seven gates j 
four large ones, called, Bab el Yemen, Bab es Sabbak 7 
Bab Shaub, and Bab es Siraun ; (the latter, which 
leads to the castle, is but seldom opened;") and three 
smaller ones, called, Bab Shardra, Bab Hadid, and 
Bab Sogair. There are a number of mosques : the 
principal one, El Bjamea, has two minarets, the rest 
have but one. Some of these have been erected by 
Turkish pashas. There are not more than twelve 
large public baths, but several noble palaces, built in 
the Arabian style : three of these, Busfan es Sullaun, 
DarelJYasr, and Bar Fatch, had been erected by the 
reigning imaum. ' These palaces, it is true,' says 
Niebuhr, ' are not in the European taste, but they 
are, nevertheless, constructed with burnt bricks, and 
sometimes even hewn stones have been employed ; 



ARABIA. 321 

whereas the houses of the common people are of sun- 
dried bricks. I saw no glass windows, except in one 
palace near the citadel. The other houses have merely 
shutters, which are closed when it rains ; and the 
house is then lighted by a round wicket, fitted with a 
piece of muscovy glass: some of the principal inha- 
bitants have, in their country-houses, small panes of 
stained glass brought from Venice. In this city, as 
in most others in the East, there are large simseras 
or caravanseras for merchants and travellers ; also, 
separate bazaars for wood, coal, iron, grapes, corn, 
butter, salt, and bread : in the bread market, women 
only are to be seen. There is also to be found at 
Sanaa a market where you may barter old clothes for 
new. The other traders, that is to say, all who traffic 
in the merchandise of India, Persia, Turkey, and 
other countries, as well as those who trade in all sorts 
of spices and drugs, the dealers in kaad-lesLves, the 
fruiterers, carpenters, smiths, shoemakers, sadlers, 
tailors, stone-cutters, goldsmiths, barbers, cooks, book- 
binders, and writers or scribes,* — have all, during the 
day, their respective stands in the open street, with 
their kittle portable shops. Timber is generally dear 
throughout Yemen, and fire -wood is not less so at 
Sanaa, all the hills near the city being bleak and bare, 

* These writers go about with their desks, and draw up pe- 
titions, copy-books, or teach writing. ' Here' (at Djidda), 
says the Author of Scenes and Impressions, ' I first saw the 
true scribe, — well robed, and dressed in turban, trowsers, and 
soft slippers, like one of rank among the people. His inkstand 
with its pen-case has the look of some weapon, and is worn 
like a dagger in the folds of the sash: it is of silver or brass 
— this was of silver. When summoned to use it, he takes 
some paper out of his bosom, cuts it into shape with scissors, 
then writes his letter by dictation, presents it for approval ; it 
is tossed back to him with a haughty and careless air, and the 
ring is drawn off and passed or thrown to him, to affix the seal. 
He does every thing on his knees, which are tucked up to serve 
him as a desk.' 

VOL. I. 29 



322 ARABIA. 

so that wood is brought from the distance of three 
days' journey, and a camel's load costs two crowns. 
This scarcity of wood fuel, however, is partially sup- 
plied by a little pit coal. 1 have even seen peat 
burned here, but it was so bad as to require to be 
mixed with straw, to make it burn. 

4 Fruits are very plentiful at Sanaa. Here are 
more than twenty different species of grapes, which, 
as they do not all ripen at the same time, continue to 
afford a delicious refreshment for several months. 
The Arabs likewise preserve grapes by hanging them 
up in their cellars, and eat them almost through the 
whole year. The Jews make a little wine, and might 
make more, if the Arabs were not such enemies to 
strong liquors. A Jew convicted of conveying wine 
into an Arab's house, is severely punished; nay, the 
Jews must use great caution in buying and selling it 
among themselves. Great quantities of grapes are 
dried here; and the exportation of raisins from Sanaa 
is considerable. One sort of these grapes is without 
stones, and contains only a soft grain, not perceptible 
in eating the raisin, 

' Jews are not permitted to live in the city. They 
live by themselves in a village named Kaa el Ihud, 
in the suburb of Bir el Jlssah. Their number amounts 
to 2,000. They are treated, in Yemen, more con- 
temptuously than in Turkey; yet, the best artisans 
in Arabia are Jews, especially potters and goldsmiths, 
who come to the city to work in their little shops by 
day, and in the evening retire to their village. These 
Jews carry on a considerable trade. One of the most 
eminent merchants among them, named Oraki, gained 
the favour of two successive imams, and was for 
thirteen years, in the reign of El Mansor, and for 
fifteen years under the present imam, comptroller of 
the customs and of the royal buildings and gardens, — 
one of the most honourable offices of the court of 
Sanaa. Two years before our arrival, he had fallen 



ARABIA. 323 

into disgrace, and was not only imprisoned, but fined 
50,000 crowns. Fifteen days before we arrived at 
Sanaa, the imam had set him at liberty. He was a 
venerable man, of great knowledge; and although he 
had received the imam's permission, had never chosen 
to assume any other dress than that commonly worn 
by his countrymen. The young Jew who had been 
our servant, was one of his relations, and had men- 
tioned us so favourably to him, that he desired to see 
us. But we durst not hold frequent intercourse with 
a man so newly released from prison. The disgrace 
of Oraki had drawn a degree of persecution upon the 
rest of the Jews. At that period, the Government 
ordered the demolition of fourteen synagogues which 
the Jews had at Sanaa. In their village are as hand- 
some houses as the best in the city. Of these houses, 
all above the height of fourteen fathoms were demo- 
lished, and the Jews were forbidden to raise any of 
their buildings above that height in future. All the 
stone pitchers in which they had used to keep their 
wines, were broken. In short, the poor Jews suffer- 
ed mortifications of all sorts. 

c The Banians in Sanaa, who are reckoned to be 
about 125, pay 300 crowns a month for permission to 
live in the city, whereas the numerous Jewish popu- 
lation of Kaa el Ihucl pay only 125 crowns a month. 
The heirs of a deceased Banian are obliged to pay 
from 40 to 50 crowns: if he should leave no near re- 
lations in Yemen, his whole property devolves to the 
imam. The Banians told us, that two men of their 
nation had been dragged to prison two months before; 
and ere they could obtain their liberty, were forced to 
yield up -1,500 crowns of an inheritance which had 
fallen to them in India, and of which they had touched 
no part in Arabia. 

1 The suburb of Bir el Jlssah nearly adjoins the 
city upon the east side. The houses of this village 
are scattered through the gardens along the bank of a 



824 ARABIA. 

Small river. Two leagues northward from Sanaa, is 
a plain named Rodda, which is overspread with gar- 
dens, and watered by a number of rivulets. This 
place bears a great resemblance to the neighbourhood 
of Damascus. But Sanaa, which some ancient au- 
thors compare to Damascus, stands on a rising ground, 
with nothing like florid vegetation about it. After 
long rains, indeed, a small rivulet runs through the 
city ; but, through the rest of the year, all the ground 
is dry. However, by aqueducts from Mount Nik- 
kum, the town and castle of Sanaa are at all times 
supplied with abundance of excellent fresh water.' 

On the third day after his arrival, Niebuhr was 
admitted to an audience of the imaum. The hall of 
audience was a very spacious square chamber, with an 
arched roof, and in the centre was a large basin, with 
gome jets (Peau rising fourteen feet in height. Behind 
the basin, and near the throne, were two large benches, 
each a foot and a half high. Upon the throne, which 
was covered with silk stuffs, were placed large cushions, 
between two of which the imaum sat in the eastern 
fashion. He was dressed in a bright green robe with 
large sleeves ; oneach side of his breast was a rich fillet- 
ing of gold lace, and on his head he wore a large white 
turban. His sons sat on his right hand, and his brothers 
on his left; opposite to them, on the higher of the 
two benches, sat the vizier; on the lower were placed 
the European travellers; and many of the principal 
men about the court were ranged on each side of the 
hall. Our Traveller was first led up to the imaum, 
and was permitted, as a mark of extraordinary favour, 
to kiss both the back and the palm of his hand, as well 
as the hem of his robe; while a herald proclaimed, 
* God preserve the Imaum,' which was repeated by 
all present. The Arabic spoken at the court of Sanaa, 
was found greatly to differ from that of Tehama, 
which Niebuhr alone could speak, so that the conver- 
sation was necessarily carried on by interpreters: it 



ARABIA. 



325 



was neither very long nor very interesting, but the 
reception was most gracious. On their return to their 
quarters, the imaum sent each of the party a purse of 
small coin, in value about three crowns. Niebuhr 
subsequently saw this Arabian sovereign return in 
state from the mosque, when, besides the princes of 
the blood, there were in the procession at least 600 
noblemen, ecclesiastics, and officers civil and military, 
all superbly mounted, and a vast crowd followed on 
foot. On each side of the imaum was borne a standard, 
having upon it a small silver box filled with aniulets, 
whose efficacy was imagined to render him invincible; 
and over his head, as well as over the princes, were 
borne large parasols,* — a distinction peculiar to the 
blood royal. The procession was magnificent but dis- 
orderly : the riders paced or galloped at pleasure, and 
the soldiers fired a few rounds with true Arabian 
awkwardness. 

On his departure, Niebuhr, as well as his compa- 
nion, received from the' imaum, a complete suit of 
clothes, together with an order on the dowlah of 
Mocha for 200 crowns, as a farewell present. The 
dress was exactly like that which is worn by the 
Arabs of distinction throughout Yemen, consisting of 
a shirt, worn over wide drawers of cotton cloth, and a 
vest with straight sleeves, covered with a flowing gown. 
The jambea, a sort of crooked cutlass, hangs by a 
broad girdle, and on the foot are half-boots or slippers 
without hose. The turban is very large, and falling 
down, floats over the shoulders. 

This was in 1763. Since that time, many political 
changes have taken place in Yemen, and this ancient 

* Rather, a canopy. That borne over the monarch visited 
by the French traveller, was of green damask, with a trim- 
ming of red silk eight inches deep, enriched with gold lace, 
and "on the top was a globe of silver gilt surmounted by a py- 
ramid of the same. 

vol. i. 29* 



326 ARABIA. 

monarchy seems fast waning to its close. The state 
of things at the beginning of the present century is 
thus described by Lord Valentia. 

' The imaum is at least seventy-eight years old, 
and fast approaching to dotage; he will not hear of 
any danger, and endeavours still to amuse himself in 
his sooty harem of 400 Abyssinian slaves. The vizier 
attaches himself to the party of Abdailah, though, before 
the imaum, he treats the brothers with equal respect. 
As the powers of the old man decay, their hostilities 
become more open, and the Hadje Abdailah informed 
me, that, during his residence at Sanaa, they actually 
drew their jambeas on each other, in their father's 
presence, but were separated by the vizier. If, while 
disputing about the succession, they do not exert 
themselves to raise a force sufficient to resist the Wan- 
nabees, they will have no kingdom to succeed to. 
The whole disposable force of Yemen did not then 
exceed 600 horse, and 3,000 foot; not a tenth part of 
the force that their enterprising enemy could bring 
against them.' 

From Sanaa, Niebuhr returned, by way of Beit el 
Fakih and Zebid, to Mocha, where he embarked for 
Bombay. Here, therefore, we must take leave of the 
learned Traveller, which we do with the more reluc- 
tance, as no European has hitherto followed up his 
researches in the interior of this remarkable country. 
All to the eastward and northward of Sanaa, the ter- 
ritories of Sahaun, Djof, and Yafa, the whole of Ha- 
dramaut and El Nedjed, and the greater part of 
Omaun and Lachsa, are terra incognita. A recent 
Traveller,* indeed, has furnished some interesting 
and important information respecting the dominions 
of the Imaum of Muscat, and the shores of the Persian 

* Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan. By James B. 
Fraser. 4to, 1825. 



ARABIA. 



327 



Gulf, which might with propriety be introduced in 
this place. The narrow limits, however, within 
which the remainder of this description of Arabia 
must be comprised, compel us to reserve it for another 
place, in connexion with the countries comprised in 
the vast basin of the Euphrates, and which, though 
politically disunited, are both historically and morally 
connected with Arabia. A few particulars are sub- 
joined, as serving to render more complete the ac- 
count of the southern coast. 

Mr Fraser sailed from Bombay, on the 14th of 
May, 1821, and, on the 5th of July, made Raus ul 
Hud, (or R'ls el Hhad,) vulgarly called Rasselgate, 
which literally means Land's-end. i Very dark 
weather added to the majesty of the mountains that 
lie near this promontory, and which are generally 
mistaken for the Cape itself ; the true Cape, however, 
is comparatively low, and runs much further out to 
sea. The whole coast is a rocky wall; the moun- 
tains of brown and bare rock, streaked with light 
gray veins and patches, ris& in several ranges, one 
behind the other. The little town of Raus ul Hud 
lies on a small piece of beach, just round the Cape, 
with a good many date-trees about it, and two 
castles may be seen, built by the Imaum of Muscat, 
as a protection against the Wahhabees. The whole 
looks as dismal and barren as can be: not a blade 
of grass, or green thing, except the date-trees above 
mentioned, can any where be detected. It is remark- 
able, that, on rounding this cape, the south-west trade- 
wind constantly fails; the heavy sea it occasions, is 
exchanged for still water; and light baffling airs suc- 
ceed, which render the remainder of the voyage to 
Muscat tedious and uncertain. The whole Arabian 
coast in this quarter, wears the same sterile aspect, 
offering, in many places, a precipitous, rocky belt 
towards the sea, alongside which ships might float 
unharmed. These rocks, entirely denuded of soil 



328 ARABIA. 

or vegetation, exhibit their external strata crumbled 
into fragments, which partly adhere, partly lie loose 
on their surfaces, offering to the mind a remarkable 
image of ruin and desolation. Several ranges of 
mountains may be seen from the sea; but none, so 
far as we could judge, exceeded the height of fifteen 
hundred feet, and most of them were far below it. 
The province of Omaun extends from Abouthubee 
(vulgarly called Boothbee), in the Persian Gulf, to 
the island Masseira, south of Raus ul Hudd. Its 
produce is confined almost exclusively to dates and 
wheat.' The climate, particularly that of the cove 
of Muscat, is very unfavourable to the European 
constitution; and Mr Fraser suffered not less from 
the suffocating heat of the nights, than from the 
fiery heat of day, when the thermometer varied from 
92° to 102° of Fahrenheit. The traders here are 
chiefly Hindoos; and Muscat reminded him, at first, 
of a very wretched Indian town; but no Indian 
scene, he says, ever presented the aspect of sterility 
with which that town is surrounded. 

To judge of the Arab and his country, however, 
one must climb the mountains, and visit the oases 
of the desert. It is not at Djidda, Mocha, or Muscat, 
among the mixed and motley population of the sea- 
ports, — nor even at Mekka, that a fair estimate can 
be formed of his character; but among the independ- 
ent sheikhs whose territories have never yet been 
violated by the Ottoman, the salad ins and shereefs 
of the mountains, the Wahhabees and the Bedoweens. 

It remains to notice one of the most singular spots 
in all Arabia, or indeed in the eastern world, — the 
ancient caoital of Arabia Petraea, which has but 
recently been brought to light, after being as affec- 
tually hidden in its solitude, from European eyes at 
least, for a series of ages, as the palace of Shedad 
and the paradise of Irem in the deserts of Aden, 



ARABIA. 



PETRA. 



329 



It is the general opinion, Burckhardt says, among ~ 
the clergy of Jerusalem, that the ancient Petra was 
at Kerek, two days' journey south of Szalt. This 
place is, accordingly, the see of the Greek Bishop 
of Battra (ngrg*$), who generally resides at Jeru- 
salem; a proof how little stress is to be laid on the 
traditional information to be derived from such 
quarters. Kerek may perhaps be considered as at 
present the frontier town of Syria and Arabia, in 
this direction* Its inhabitants consisted, at the 
time of Burckhardt's visit, in 1812, of about 400 
Turkish, and 150 Christian families: the latter are 
chiefly descendants of refugees from Jerusalem, Beth- 
lehem, and Beit Djade. Four years before, the 
people of Kerek had, nominally, become Wahhabees, 
but they had never paid full tribute to Ibn Saoud; 
mid his sovereignty in this direction was little more 
than nominal. He had conferred on the Sheikh of* 
Kerek the title of Emir of all the Bedoweens south 
of Damascus, to the Red Sea; but the Howeytat 
Arabs are in possession of the country south of Kerek, 
and the ' Kerelceinf themselves deem it expedient 
to pay tribute to them. Tafyle, in the district of 
Djebal {Gebalene), about four days' further south, 
has, indeed, the character of a Syrian town, but the 
Howeytat govern the whole of this district. At the 
village Beszeyra,two hours and three quarters further, 

* The pashalik of Damascus extends as far southward as Tor 
Hesma, a high mountain, within one day's journey of Akaba, 
comprising the entire districts of Djabel and Shera, and con- 
sequently including Wady Mousa and Petra itself; but the Sy- 
rian viceroy has little authority in these parts, and Djezzar is 
the only pasha who has been able to exact the land-tax from 
the Arabs of Wady Mousa. — See Burckhardt, p. 433.) 
This territory belongs, in the strictest sense, to Arabia. 



330 ARABIA. 

the women are seen wearing the herkoa^ or Egyptian 
veil: and this change of costume is not the only indi- 
cation that the traveller is entering upon the territory 
of a different race from the Syrian Bedovveens. The 
Howeytat, who occupy the whole of Djebel Shera* 
from Wady Ghoeyr to Akaba el Masri, are the car- 
riers of the Egyptian hadji caravan, as the Aenese 
Bedoweens are of the Syrian hadji. They resemble 
the Egyptians in their features, which are much less 
regular than those of the northern Bedoweens, espe- 
cially the Aenese; they are much leaner and taller also 
than the northern Arabs; the skin of many of them is 
almost black; and their women, though tall and well 
made, are disfigured by broad cheek-bones. 

The principal place in Djebel Shera is Shobak,f 
called also Kerek el Shobak, which has been a con- 
siderable town. It is situated about an hour to the 
south of the Ghoeyr, upon the top of a hill in the 
midst of low mountains. At the foot of the hill are 
two springs, surrounded by gardens and olive-plan- 
tations. The castle, of Saracen construction, is one 
of the largest to the south of Damascus, but is not so 
solidly built as that of Kerek. The greater part of 
the wall and several of the bastions and towers are 
still entire. The ruins of a well-built vaulted church 
are now transformed into a meclhafe or public inn. 
Upon the architraves of several gates, Burckhardt 
noticed mystical symbols characteristic of the eccle- 
siastical architecture of the lower empire; and the 
tower of the castle has several Arabic inscriptions, in 
which may be distinguished the name of Melek el 
Dhaher. Mr Bankes found, in the architrave of the 
principal door, an imperfect Latin inscription, of 
which he made so much out as to leave no doubt that 
it was a work of one of the Frank Kings of Jerusalem; 

* Evidently the Mount Seir or Shehir of Scripture. Seep. 198. 
t This name occurs Neh. x, 24. 



ARABIA. 



331 



and it is suggested that this might be Mom Regalis, 
one of their strong-holds in this direction.* Within the 
area of the castle, about one hundred of the Mella- 
hein Arabs had built their huts or pitched their tents: 
they cultivate the neighbouring grounds under the 
protection of the Howeytat. From the summit is a 
boundless view, comprising ' three dark volcanic emi- 
nences,' from which lava has evidently streamed, and 
formed a sort of island in the plain. " The road from 
Shobak to Akaba, is tolerably good, and might, Burck- 
hardt says, be rendered practicable even for artillery;! 

* Trby and Mangles, p. 380. The Writer remarks, that the 
supposed church has the more the air of Mohammedan than of 
Christian architecture: the interior is in the pure Gothic style; 
the door-way is in the genuine Oriental taste. 

t In the Description of Syria, vol. ii, p. 78, the Syrian Hadji 
route was given as far as the termination of the Djebel Haou- 
ran. The sixth day's journey is from Kalaat el Zerka to Ka- 
laat el Belka, to the west of which the Djebel Belka ter- 
minates. Seventh day, to Kalaat el Katrane, which is also 
one day S. E. of Kerek. Eighth day, to Kalaat el Hassa, in 
a wady of the same name, running westward, which discharg- 
es its waters, in the rainy season, into the Sheriat el Kebir 
(Jordan). Ninth day, half a day's journey to Kalaat Aeneze. 
Tenth day, half a day's journey to Maan, where the hadjis 
rest two days. Eleventh day, to Akeba Esshami. Here, 
the elevated plain eastward of the Djebel Shera, terminates 
by a steep, rocky descent, at the bottom of which begins the 
desert of Nedjed, covered, for the most part, with flints. It is 
this upper plain, together with the mountains of Shera, Dje- 
bal, Kerek, and Belka, which formed, Burckhardt thinks, 
that natural division of the country to which the name of Ara- 
bia Petrsea was applied. Though once thickly populous, it la 
now all a desert, and Maan is the only inhabited town. All 
the castles on the Syrian hadji route, from Fedhein to Medi- 
nah, are deserted. 

From Akaba, the twelfth day's journey is to Kalaat Med a- 
wara. Thirteenth day, to Dzat Hadji, a castle surrounded 
with wells and palm-trees. Fourteenth day, at four hours, a 
difficult descent, called El Araye or Kalaat Ammar, leads 
from the sandy plain to a tract covered with white earth, ex- 
tending to Kalaat Tebouk, where the hadji rests one day. 



332 ARABIA. 

but he struck out of this road to the westward, to 
visit Wady Mousa, and the tomb of Aaron on Mount 
Hor. 

Upon the summit of the mountain over which the 
road from Shobak passes, near the spot where it di- 
verges from the great road to Akaba, are numerous 
small heaps of stones, indicating so many sacrifices to 
Haroun; the Arabs, who vow to slaughter a victim to 
Haroun, deeming it sufficient to proceed as far as this 
place, whence the dome of his tomb is visible, and 
after killing the animal, they throw a heap of stones 
over the blood which flows to the ground. Am Moosa* 

Fifteenth day, from Tebouk to Kalaat Jlkhdar. Sixteenth 
day, a very long march to El Moadham. Seventeenth day, 
to Bar El Hamra. Eighteenth, to Med ain Szaleh, where 
are excavations and sculptured figures. Nineteenth day, to El 
Olla, a village of 250 houses, with a rivulet and orchards. 
The next three days, the halting places are merely wells, 
Bir elGrhancmi, Bir Zemeriod, and Bir Bjedeide. The 
twenty-third, to Wady Hedye, coining from Khaibar, which 
is four hours distant (see page 72): here the caravan remains 
two days, and the people often go to Khaibar to buy fresh 
provisions. Twenty-fourth, to El Fahletein, where apes and 
tigers are said to be met with, and where is an ancient building 
of black stones, called Stabel Antar. Twenty-fifth, to Bir 
JVaszeif. Twenty-sixth, to Medinah. 

From Medinah, there are two routes to Mekka. The east- 
ern route is, 1. El Khona, a deep wady. 2. El Dereybe, a 
walled village. 3. Sefyne, a village. 4. El Kobab, wells. 

5. Bir el Hedjar, wells. 6. Set Zebeyde, a ruined village. 
7. El Makrouka, wells. 8. Wady Leimoun, a village and 
rivulet. 9. Bir el Baghle, wells. 10. Mekka. — The west- 
era road is, 1. Bir Ali, a village with gardens. 2. El Sho- 
hada, no water. 3. Djideida (see page 274). 4. Beder, 
the scene of Mohammed's famous victory (see p. 69): it con- 
tains upwards of 500 houses, with a rivulet. The Egyptian 
hadji here generally meets the Syrian. 5. El Kaa,no water. 

6. El Akdyd, twenty-eight hours from Beder. 7. Rabagh 
(Arabok), a village. 8. Khalyz, a village and rivulet. 9. El 
Szafan, wells. 10. Wady Fatima, a village with rivulet and 
gardens. 11. Mekka. 

* Probably the same as Mosera, Deut. x, 6. 



ARABIA. 



333 



is a copious spring, rushing from under a rock at the 
eastern extremity of the wady. It is about seven 
hours from Shobak. There are no ruins near the 
spring, but, a little lower down, is a mill, and above 
it the°deserted village of Badabde, formerly inhabited 
by Greek Christians, who retired to Kerek. Proceed- 
ing 'along the brook for above twenty minutes, the 
vailey opens into a plain, about a quarter of an hour 
in length and ten minutes in breadth, in which the 
stream of Am Moosa is joined by a mountain rivulet 
from the southward. Upon the declivity of the moun- 
tain, in the angle formed by their junction, stands 
Eldjy, the principal village of Wady Mousa, contain- 
ing between 2 and 300 houses, enclosed with a stone 
wall, with three regular gates. It is inhabited by the 
Lyathene Arabs, part of whom encamp during the 
whole year in the neighbouring mountains. It is 
most picturesquely situated ; the slopes of the moun- 
tain are formed into terraces covered with corn-fields 
and orchards, which are well irrigated by the two 
rivulets and numerous smaller springs; and a few 
larwe hewn stones and blocks of beautiful marble dis- 
persed over the present town, indicate it to be the 
site of an ancient city. Pursuing the rivulet of Eldjy 
westward, the valley soon narrows again; and here 
a scene of wonder soon opens on the traveller, for 
the description of which we shall avail ourselves of 
the unpublished travels of Captains the Hon. C. L. 
Irby and James Mangles, who visited Wady Mousa, 
in company with Mr Bankes and Mr Legh, in 1818. 

{ Some hundred yards below the spring, begins the 
outskirts of the vast necropolis of Petra. Many door- 
ways are visible, upon different levels, cut in the side 
of the mountain, which, toward this part, begins to 
assume a more rugged aspect. The most remarkable 
tombs stand near the road, which follows the course 
of the brook. The first of these is cut in a mass of 
whitish rock, which is in some measure insulated and 

vol. i. 30 



334 ARABIA. 

detached from the general range. The centre repre- 
sents a square tower with pilasters at the corner, and 
with several successive bands of frieze and entablature 
above; two low wings project from it at right angles, 
and present each of them a recess in the manner of a 
portico, which consists of two columns, whose capitals 
have an affinity with the Doric order, between corre- 
sponding antse ; there are, however, no triglyphs 
above. Three sides of a square area are thus en- 
closed; the fourth has been shut in by a low wall and 
two colossal lions on each side; all much decayed. 
The interior has been a place of sepulture for several 
bodies.' 

The taste which prevails in the decoration of most 
of the fagades of these excavations, is fantastical in the 
extreme ; they are loaded with ornaments, in the 
Roman manner, but in ? bad taste,' displaying an 
£ unmeaning richness and littleness of conception.' 
In one instance, upon a plain front without any other 
decoration than a single moulding, are set, in a recess, 
four tall and taper pyramids. The effect is singular 
and surprising, but combining too little with the rest 
of the elevation to be good. i Our attention,' says 
Capt. M., 'was the more attracted by this monu- 
ment, as it presents, perhaps, the only existing exam- 
ple of pyramids so applied, though we read of them 
as placed in a similar manner on the summit of the 
tombs of the Maccabees and of the Queen of Adiabene, 
both in the neighbouring province of Palestine.' As 
the sides of the valley become more precipitous and 
rugged, the large and lofty towers, which are repre- 
sented in relief on the lower part of the precipice, are 
formed, higher up, by the rock being cut down on all 
sides. The greater number of them present them- 
selves to the high road, but others stand back in the 
wild nooks and recesses of the mountain. Such 
quadrangular towers, Capt. Mangles remarks, were a 
fashionable form of sepulchre in several inland dis- 



ARABIA. 335 

tricts of the East: they abound at Palmyra, and are 
seen in the valley of Jehoshaphat; but there, the de- 
tails and ornaments betray an imitation of Roman 
architecture, while at Petra they bear the marks of 
a peculiar and indigenous style. ' Their sides have 
generally a slight degree of that inclination towards 
each other, which is one of the characteristics of 
Egyptian edifices; and they are crowned with the 
Egyptian torus and concave frieze.' Chateaubri- 
and has remarked on the manifest alliance of the 
Egyptian and the Grecian taste in the tombs at Jeru- 
salem. ' From this alliance resulted,' he says, < a 
heterogeneous kind of monuments, forming, as it 
were, the link between the Pyramids and the Par- 
thenon.' 

Among this multitude of tombs, two only contained 
inscriptions : the characters of these, Mr Bankes 
detected to be exactly similar to those which he had 
seen scratched on the rocks about the foot of Mount 
Sinai, and they are supposed to be some form of the 
Syriac. It was the eastern approach to Petra which 
the Travellers were pursuing. As they advanced, 
4 the natural features of the defile grew more and 
more imposing at every step, and the excavations and 
sculpture more frequent on both sides, till it pre- 
sented at last a continued street of tombs, beyond 
which the rocks, gradually approaching each other, 
seemed all at once to close without any outlet. There 
is however, one frightful chasm for the passage of 
the stream, which furnished, as it did anciently, the 
only avenue to Petra on this side. It is impossible to 
conceive any thing more awful or sublime than such 
an approach. The width is not more than just suffi- 
cient for the passage of two horsemen abreast; the 
sides are in all parts perpendicular, varying from four 
hundred to seven hundred feet in height; and they 
often overhang to such a degree, that, without their 
absolutely meeting, the sky is intercepted and con> 



336 



ARABIA. 



pletely shut out for one hundred yards together, and 
there is little more light than in a cavern. The 
screaming of the eagles, hawks, and owls, who were 
soaring above our heads in considerable numbers, 
seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their 
lonely habitation, added much to the singularity of 
this scene. The tamarisk, the wild fig, and the olean- 
der, grow luxuriantly about the road, rendering the 
passages olten difficult: in some places, they hang 
down most beautifully from the cliffs and crevices 
where they had taken root. The caper-plant was 
also in luxuriant growth, the continued shade furnish- 
ing them moisture. 

' Very near the entrance into this romantic pass, a 
bold arch is thrown across at a great height, connect- 
ing the opposite sides of the cliff. Whether this was 
part of an upper road upon the summit of the moun- 
tain, or whether it be a portion of an aqueduct, which 
seems less probable, we had no opportunity of examin- 
ing; but, as the traveller passes under it, its appear- 
ance is most surprising, hanging thus above his head 
betwixt two rugged masses apparently inaccessible. 
The ravine, without changing much its general direc- 
tion, presents so many elbows and windings in its 
course, that the eye can seldom penetrate forward 
beyond a few paces, and is often puzzled to distinguish 
in what direction the passage will open, so completely 

does it appear obstructed We followed this sort of 

half-subterranean passage for the space of nearly two 
miles, the sides increasing jn height as the path con- 
tinually descended, while the tops of the precipices 
retained their former level. Where they are at the 
highest, a beam of stronger light breaks in at the 
close of the dark perspective, and opens to view, half 
seen at first through the tall, narrow opening, columns, 
statues, and cornices of a light and finished taste, as 
if fresh from the chisel, without the tints or weather-. 
stains of age, and executed in a stone of a pale rose 



ARABIA. 337 



colour, which was warmed, at the moment we came^in 
sight of them, with the full light of the morning sun. 
The dark green of the shrubs that grow m this per- 
petual shade, and the sombre appearance of the 
passage whence we were about to issue, formed a hne 
contrast with the glowing colour of this edifice. We 
know not with what to compare this scene: perhaps, 
there is nothing in the world that resembles it. Only 
a portion of a very extensive architectural elevation is 
seen at first; but it has been so contrived, that a statue 
with expanded wings, perhaps of Victory, just fills the 
centre of the aperture in front, which being closed 
below by the sides of the rock folding over each other, 
gives to the figure the appearance of being suspended 
in the air at a considerable height; the ruggedness of 
the cliffs below setting off the sculpture to the highest 
advantage. The rest of the design opened gradually 
as we advanced, till the narrow defile, which had con- 
tinued thus far without any increase of breadth, 
spreads on both sides into an open area of a moderate 
size, whose sides are by nature inaccessible, and pre- 
sent the same awful and romantic features as the 
avenues which lead to it: this opening gives admis- 
sion to a great body of light from the eastward. The 
position is one of the most beautiful that could be 
imagined for the front of a'great temple, the richness 
and^exquisite finish of whose decorations offer a most 
remarkable contrast to the savage scenery. No part 
is built, the whole being purely a work of excava- 
tion; and its minutest embellishments, wherever the 
hand of man has not purposely effaced them, are so 
perfect, that it may be doubted whether any work of 
the ancients, excepting, perhaps, some on the banks 
of the Nile, have come down to our time so little 
injured by the lapse of age. There is, in fact, scarce- 
ly a building of forty years' standing in England, so 
well preserved in the greater part of its architectural 
decorations. 

6 The area before the temple is about fifty yards in 



338 



ARABIA. 



width, and about three times as long. It terminates 
to the S. in a wild, precipitous cliff. The defile 
assumes, for about 300 yards, the same features which 
characterise the eastern approach, with an infinite 
variety of tombs, both Arabian and Roman, on either 
side. This pass conducts (in a ]\ T . W. direction) to 
the theatre: and here, the ruins of the city burst on 
the view in their full grandeur, shut in, on the oppo- 
site side by barren, craggy precipices, from which 
numerous ravines and valleys, like those we had 
passed, branch out in all directions.' 

Those which they examined, were found to 
end precipitously; and there is no getting out of 
them, except, in one instance, by climbing the precipice. 

c The sides of the mountains, covered with an end- 
less variety of excavated tombs and private dwellings, 
presented altogether the most singular scene we have 
ever beheld; and we must despair of giving the reader 
an idea of the singular effect of rocks tinted with the 
most extraordinary hues, whose summits present to 
us nature in her most savage and romantic form, 
while their bases are worked out in all the symmetry 
and regularity of art, with colonnades, and pediments, 
and ranges of corridors adhering to the perpendicular 
surface.' 

There can be no doubt that this extraordinary spot 
is, as Burckhardt supposed, the Petra of Pliny and 
Strabo, the capital of the Nabataei;* notwithstanding 
that the Greek Church has transferred the name of 
JBattra, with its metropolitan honours, to Kerek, 
which Burckhardt concludes to be the Charax of 
Pliny. Thus, the very existence of the real Petra 
had been blotted out from memory. — One of the 

* { The Nabataei inhabit a city called Petra, in a hollow 
somewhat less than two miles in circumference, surrounded by 
inaccessible mountains, with a stream running through it. It 
is distant from the town of Gaza on the coast 600 miles, and 
from the Persian Gulf, 122 r ' — Plin. lib. vi, c. 28, 



ARABIA. ^39 



most remarkable of the excavations has evidently 
served as a Christian church. Near an angle in the 
walls, is an < inscription in red paint, recording the 
date of its consecration' — what date, or in what cha- 
aracter, is not mentioned. Two days, from day-break 
to dusk, were spent by the Travellers upon these 
ruins ; but they could not at that time half explore 
them. At a considerable distance, a temple was de- 
scried, larger apparently than that which fronts the 
eastern approach; they were unable to discover the 
path to it. There was enough, in short, to have em- 
ployed the party four days more at least, but nothing 
could obtain from the Arabs a further respite. Burck- 
hardt'-s survey was still more hasty, as he owed his 
safety to passing for a Moslem; in which character he 
did not scruple to sacrifice a goat to Haroun (Aaron), 
in sight of the Prophet's tomb, which overlooks the 
city. It serves to identify the site, that Josephus 
expressly mentions the place of Aaron's decease as 
near the metropolis of Arabia Petrsea; and Eusebius 
says, that the tomb of Aaron was shown near Petra. 
The Travellers, therefore, could have no doubt that 
it was Mount Hor, whose rugged pinnacle towered up 
before them, adding another picturesque and interest- 
ing feature to this extraordinary scene. The supposed 
tomb, which is accessible only by means of a steep 
ascent, partly artificial — in some places, flights of rude 
steps or niches being formed in the rock — is enclosed 
in a small modern building, not differing from the 
general appearance of the tombs of Mohammedan 
saints. Here, a decrepid old sheikh had resided for 
forty years, occasionally enduring the fatigue of de- 
scending and re-ascending the mountain. Not aware 
that his visiters were Christians, he furnished them 
with a lamp of butter to explore the vault or grotto 
beneath. Towards the further end, lie two correspond- 
ing leaves of an iron grating, which formerly prevent- 
ed all nearer approach to the tomb: these have been 
thrown down, and the Travellers advanced so far as 



340 AilAlilA. 






to touch the ragged pall which covers the hallowed spot. 
The tomb is patched together out of fragments of stone 
and marble. Rags and shreds of yarn, with glass 
beads and paras, have been left as votive offerings by 
the Arabs. 

i No where,' says the Writer, c is the extra- 
ordinary colouring of these mountains more striking, 
than in the road to the Tomb of Aaron. The rock 
sometimes presented a deep, sometimes a paler blue, 
and sometimes was occasionally streaked with red, or 
shaded off to lilac or purple; sometimes, a salmon 
colour was veined in waved lines and circles with 
crimson and even scarlet, so as to resemble exactly 
the colour of raw meat; in other places, there are 
livid stripes of yellow or bright orange; and in some 
parts, all the different colours were ranged side by side 
in parallel strata; there are portions also with paler 
tints, and some quite white, but these last seem to be 
soft, and not good for preserving the sculpture. It is 
this wonderful variety of colours, observable through- 
out the whole range of mountains, that gives to Petra 
one of its most characteristic beauties; the facades of 
the tombs, tastefully as they are sculptured, owe much 
of their imposing appearance to this infinite diversity 
of hues in the stone.' 

Such a scene might have furnished the Author of 
Rasselas with a fine model for his happy valley. The 
Arabian Nights scarcely afford a picture equal in rich- 
ness to this fantastic city in the rocks, — the monument 
and mausoleum of a once mighty and now forgotten 
nation. Thus strikingly is the oracle fulfilled: 
' Edom shall be a desolation.'* 

* Jer. xlix> 17. 



THE END. 



H 313 85 %'f 

1 :SA P 27 ' 

























a* ^ ". SBPSf ♦" ^s v ~^. 









«» «Sf 



.7* A 






/ % /J^%% 



<* vr.v 



^ i^ o«^K« *^ ^ 













0^ •t^MUS?/ — : .. 











V * s * " * * 







;♦ «k 






L^/AVfr.'V.* ' /■ 



HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC. 

JUN85 



N. MANCHESTER 
INDIANA 46962 






» * • < 

"^ <^ *^ 




„4 ° 







